The Sins of Man
by elrey745
Summary: The Collector's are all dead, and the Normandy's crew lick their wounds on the rogue station of Omega. Little do they know about the true horror of what dark conspiracies and new evils they will encounter. Blood will run, Hierarchies will burn, love shall be tested, and live's will be lost. Truly we all share the guilt for the Sins of Man.
1. Prologue

A/N: My first fanfic, please feel free to tear me a new one as I go into this journey of learning.

Timeline is immediately after the events of ME:2 but before the events of 3.

Prologue: Mission Complete

* * *

><p>"Joker, lose this channel." The hologram of Shepard flickered for a moment before fading, leaving The Illusive Man fuming in disbelief. His hands shook, the glass of brandy he was holding slowly started to crack at his grip.<p>

"Unbelievable…" He muttered to himself, his knuckles going white while the glass slowly started to give, the sound of it audible in the dead silence. That technology would've been the dawn of a new Golden Age for Cerberus; For Humanity as a species. It was almost within his reach, just painfully inches away from his grasp. It could have given him the means to save mankind from the Reaper threat and beyond. _Could have. _If only it wasn't for-

"Shepard." The Illusive Man continued with as much coldness as he could muster, finally shattering the glass in his vice grip. The shards cut deep and the alcohol stung, but it paled in comparison to his rage and frustration. All the research and credits and lives he had invested in Project Lazarus may as well have been for nothing due to one man's naïve idealism. He examined the damage done to his hand and slowly sat down on his chair, the moment over coming him. "That… That… Ungrateful, double crossing, naïve-" He stopped as his vision wandered to his ailing hand.

His bionic eyes went blood shot as his mind started to register the pain. Gritting his teeth, he clenched his mangled hand into a fist which made the bleeding worse. The blood ran down his arm and staining the sleeve of his immaculate suit. He started breathing heavily; sweat forming on his brow as he swatted the table next to his chair into the ground in frustration, knocking over his ashtray and the rest of the brandy. The Illusive Man slumped back into his chair, wheeling it around to face the soft glow of the blue sun outside his office window. Being the CEO of one of mankind's largest organization didn't make him a stranger to stress, and he had always found the view relaxing even in the most taxing of situations.

This particular situation, of course, was already beyond the realm of _taxing_. But the effect did not falter him, the warm glow soothing the pain in his hand and chest. Now wasn't the time for anger. He did not reach his position by letting every set back haunt him. No, no. The Illusive Man did not become one of the most powerful individuals in the galaxy by putting all his eggs into one basket. He had a dozen contingencies for every situation, and failure only brought about different opportunities. The technology was not completely lost; any viable salvage from the explosion would still be valuable, though not immensely. He had his ghost protocols in EDI's system download enough data from the Reaper IFF to start working on a similar device which would lead him back to the wreck of the collector base. It would have to be sufficient for preparation.

But that still left Shepard and his crew. Hate him or not, the man was a leader. No, he was not just a leader; that would be a gross understatement. The man was a symbol the entire galaxy can unite behind. Until recently, it was a symbol he had influence on. That would have to be rectified if he wanted to move on with his plans end ensure human supremacy in the galaxy.

"Clara." The Illusive Man said softly as a small terminal rose from the floor alongside his chair.

"Yes sir?" A woman's voice replied from the device.

"Have a first aid team come up to my office."

"Sir?" The voice suddenly said in alarm, "At once sir. Are you alright?"

"Don't concern yourself with it, Clara." He replied to his secretary, not taking his gaze away from the sun.

"Of course sir, would that be all?"

"Also, patch me through to Professor Zsasz." He took a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth. With the same hand he reached into his coat for his lighter, lighting the cigarette and taking a deep puff of them cool smoke.

"Yes sir." The woman said. A few moments later, a second voice came from the terminal.

"Ah, Illusive Man." Came a man's voice, it was deep and the accent heavily Dutch, laced with the grogginess of sleep-interrupted. "To what do I owe the honor?"

"Sorry to wake you at such a late hour, Victor." He replied, taking the cigarette out of his mouth after another puff. "It's about Shepard."

"Tis no trouble," the voice said. After a few moments of silence, he added, "So, did Shepard come through?"

"Yes and No." The Illusive Man had to hold the sudden urge to berate the doctor. "The Collector threat has been taken care of, but the Commander thought it best to rid us of their technology."

"Ah! Pity…" The reply was laced with self-satisfaction, and The Illusive Man had a very good guess as to why. "What will be our next move, sir?"

The Illusive Man leaned back on his chair and took another deep drag on his cigarette.

"I am giving Project Gemini the green-light." He said, turning towards the monitor to look at the smug professor. Had he not been one of his oldest associates, he would've had him shot long ago. "I'll expect a report on everything you will require within the next 12 hours. This project is now given top priority of all of Cerberus' resources."

The professor had vouched to be the one leading Project Lazarus, the group entrusted with Shepard's resurrection. He had been bitter about losing the position to the upstart Miss Lawson, and the look of triumph on his face was barely even hidden. The only thing missing was an _I TOLD YOU SO._

Speaking of Miss Lawson, he would have to deal with Miranda and the rest of the mutinous crew, but there was time enough for that later.

"No need to wait sir, I am uploading it to your terminal now." Professor Victor Zsasz said, all traces of tiredness gone from his voice. "I have even begun _preliminary_ research into the subject. Nothing too grand, mind you; Just a little vivisection here and there."

"Once again Victor, your eagerness impresses me." He looked at the small puddle of blood on the floor, his brow scrunching in anger. "I'll be expecting your preliminary reports in 72 hours then. I'm looking forward to your work, Victor."

"And I look forward to working on it." Zsasz replied.

He cut off the communication as he turned to let the medic team enter his office, escorted by a cadre of his personal guard. He silently presented his hand to one of the medics as he took in all that just happened.

"Blood for blood, Shepard." He said to nobody in particular as the doctors worked on his hand.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the Normandy...<p>

Shepard stepped out of the FTL communicator, letting out a sigh of relief as the table rose from the floor and the lights went back on in the debriefing room. Damn, that felt great, he thought to himself as he grabbed one of the nearby chairs and sat down. His hands reached for his helmet and unclasped it, the air from depressurization hissing as he pulled it off and placed it on the table. His eyes caught his reflection on the tinted face plate visor and he barely recognized the man looking back at him. The one scar he had running across his left eye down to his cheek glowed a violent orange even in the well-lit room. Sins on face-value, he thought as he recalled some of the things he did to get the job done that he was not particularly proud of. He had the look of a man who hadn't slept in weeks, bags heavy and dark. He was also pretty sure his hair had a bit of grayness to them now as opposed to the jet black crown of hair he had when all this first started. A gauntleted hand ran across it as he let out a sigh of relief, kicking his feet up on the table and leaning back.

The mission had gone much better than anyone could have hoped. There were a lot of hairy situations but he managed to pull his entire team out of it relatively in one piece. Not only that but they also managed to rescue his entire crew. Really, the only thing that suffered greatly was the Normandy herself; the cargo bay had to be sealed off because of the gaping hole from the occulus attack but even that was being seen to even as they spoke. It would've been a happy ending had it not been for the death of the colonists. It was too late when they had arrived, the colonists were already being processed and he had barely enough time to rescue his own crew, much less hundreds of thousands of innocents. But you took whatever fate has given you, he had saved this much at least, as well as ensured the safety of the other colonies.

For the time being, anyway.

His walk about around the ship prior to his 'conversation' with the Illusive Man was uneventful. The med bay was thankfully almost empty, save for Dr. Chakwas and crewman Williams, who had a bruised ego, more than anything else. Most of the crew was too busy to chat for long, being too preoccupied with keeping the ship in one piece. Tali could only give him a quick hug and fought the urge to hug him longer before turning back to her work. He couldn't help but remember the attack on the collector base. How he had almost lost her when the station started to collapse. He brushed away the grim thought and was content in knowing that the person he cherished most was alive and well on board the ship.

He stayed there in silence for a few minutes, almost drifting to sleep when EDI piped up.

"Commander." The AI spoke, snapping Shepard out of his reverie.

"EDI!" He said in suprise, almost jumping out of his chair before regaining his composure. "EDI. Sorry, I was just… Never mind, what's going on?"

"You had instructed me to brief you in the ship's status, commander." The AI replied as a diagnostic hologram of the Normandy popped up in the middle of the table.

"Easy on the tech lingo and give me the short story, EDI." Shepard said as he leant in closer.

"Very well, Shepard." EDI said as various diagnostic readings came up. "The ship has sustained serious damage but field repairs have made her flight worthy over short distances." The hologram zoomed in on decks 4 and 5, showing various damage reports of the ship's many components. "The mass effect core is operating at minimum capacity. Docking and more elaborate repairs are highly recommended. The cargo bay has also been exposed to the vacuum of space. A make shift biotic patch has been installed but it won't hold for long."

"Thanks EDI, instruct Joker to make port in Omega." He would have given anything to make port anywhere else, but he didn't have much to give left. "We shall stay there until critical repairs are finished and leave not a moment sooner."

He never liked Omega, the pirate space station ran by the cut-throat Asari big boss known as Aria T'Loak. Being a mercenary hub, he could only imagine what would happen should Cerberus go public with a bounty on his head as well as the entire ship. No, they couldn't afford to stay there for long.

"Anything else, commander?" EDI spoke up.

"Yes, inform the team that we're going to have a meeting here in 15 minutes." They needed to discuss what would happen now. He paused for a bit before turning back to EDI's holographic projection. "Thank you, EDI."

"Thank you too, commander." The AI stated. "Logging you out, Shepard."

Shepard smiled weakly as the AI took it's leave. He didn't trust EDI at first, but after everything they have been through, he was pleasantly surprised that he was able to think of the AI as his crewmate. His friend.

He rolled his chair around and picked up his helmet, staring at it's battle-scarred plating for a moment. It was a long battle, but the war was far from over. The Collectors, Harbinger, they were only a small sample of what they would eventually have to face down. He closed his eyes and donned his helmet, the HUD flickering to life as the onboard computer linked up with his omni-tool.

War is coming. War unlike anything this galaxy has ever seen. It wasn't easy being John Shepard, but he knew that it wouldn't be easy being anybody in the months to come.


	2. Picking up the Pieces

CHAPTER ONE: Picking up the pieces.

* * *

><p>Shepard cleared his throat as the meeting began, his team sitting around the table of the debriefing room. They all had the look of exhaustion on their face and body language but nobody was complaining. It seemed the relief from coming out alive was enough to keep all of them working. Tali was sitting next to him, he knew she had it worse than everyone else having to deal with ship repairs. She looked at him and he knew she was smiling under her helm. Under his helm, he smiled back. Taking a slow breath, he turned to the rest of the team.<p>

"That was a job well done out there people," Shepard began, pride in his voice as he crossed his arms and leaned back. "The Collector threat is over but there are hard times ahead." The room went dark as he projected a holographic image of the Reaper Fleet that he had recovered from data on the collector base. "Hard times. According to the data, it will take one to two years before the Reapers are upon us, and as it is right now, the galaxy will burn."

The crew was silent, and Shepard continued.

"This is why we need to bring them all together as one if anybody wants to survive the war." He switched off the hologram and the lights came back on, "But that will be quite an undertaking in and of itself. As of now, the first priority is the status of the Normandy."

"About that, Shepard." came Zaeed from the far side of the table, the merc had his usual grim demeanor. "I heard you cut off ties from Cerberus, was that the wisest course of action?"

John opened his mouth to reply but Tali beat him to it. "That Bosh'tet has been pulling our strings around since this all started." She was sitting next to him, and her hand slowly clutched his knee from under the table. "Shepard did the right thing back in the collector base. Cerberus showed their true motivations, and if he had allowed them to get what they wanted, they'd become another threat as bad as the Collectors."

"I was talking to the commander, little lady." Zaeed replied, and Shepard knew that the color rose on Tali's face.

"Tali's right, Zaeed." Shepard said, putting his hand on hers under the table, causing the quarian to calm down at his reassurance. "If the Illusive Man got that tech, we may as well have let The Collectors have their way."

"That may be so, Commander." The merc replied unfazed, "But that does leave the our funding severely empty. I'm not questioning the good intentions of everyone on this ship, but the cold truth is that money makes her float almost as much as the mass effect generator does."

Garrus spoke from the side of the table opposite to Zaeed. "He has a point Shepard." He conceded almost reluctantly. "The repairs to the Normandy are one thing but we need a budget to keep her operating. I know a few good ship yards in Omega, almost honest, but repairs will not come cheap. Even with a bit of intimidation; that's just the nature of that place."

"Well…" Jack began, "There are a lot of pirates in the Omega system. We could do a little vigilante justice of our own and take wha-"

"Zaeed and Garrus are right, commander." Miranda said, cutting Jack off briskly and totally ignoring her input, bringing up data and numbers from her omni-tool. "At this rate we'll be broke in 2 months, we need to lay off some unnecessary expenses until we can come up with a more long-term solution to the pro-"

"Great idea, cheer leader!" Jack cut off Miranda, grinning at the other woman's irritated expression. "Let's start with cutting down on your skank budget. Hell, maybe you can even make us some money on Omega."

Their glares narrowed onto each other as Jack continued.

"I hear batarians pay through the roof for some human pu-"

"Listen, you classless little bitch." Miranda started. She normally took the highroad when dealing with Jack, but stress does wonders to your personality. "If you don't have anything remotely constructive to add, you might as well go back to that dank pit you call a room."

"Make me, cheer leader."

Both women started to glow bright blue, as the people sitting next to them slowly started to back away. Arcs of biotic energy from the two of them were already starting to claw at one another. Shepard was already up on his feet, pulling Tali behind him. He had defused a fight between the two before but the proverbial gasoline had already been thrown into the fire now.

"JACK! MIRANDA!" He yelled. "That is quite enough! We just barely got out with our lives and you're practically gonna tear this place apart even more!"

"I don't think they care anymore, John." Tali said behind him as the lights on the ceiling started to crack and break.

Still, he had to try, but Samara got between the two women first.

"Girls." The Asari Justicar said in her pleasant but chilling tone. Her eyes glowed a bright blue and a strong pulse of biotic energy ran throughout the room, breaking the biotic fields of both women and knocking them back into their chairs. "That is quite enough."

"The hell, Grandma!"

"That was unnecessary of you to disable me, Samara. I only acted in self-defense."

The two humans on either side of her may be powerful for their species, but there is nothing like centuries of experience that tempers biotic abilities ever so nicely. Samara said nothing as she walked back to her seat, ignoring the glare of the two other women.

"Look, I don't care who started this little 'feud' you two have had going on," Shepard started, exasperation in his voice. "But this has to end right now!"

The team slowly started to make their way back to their seats as Shepard hopped over the surface of the U-shaped table to stand between Miranda and Jack.

"Not 6 hours ago, you two were fighting alongside each other! Hell, you even covered each other's backs!" He began, shifting his gaze from one to the other, the women not being able to meet his as they stared at the ground. "But every other damn time you're in a room together you do your best to tear the other one apart! Enough is enough, you two will work this out, understand?"

Shepard ran his hand across his visor as he turned and sat back down on his chair. The room was dead silent, when suddenly, one of the damaged lights, crackled and fizzed, dying out while raining him in sparks and pieces of glass.

Grunt snorted loudly, then let out a booming laugh, slapping Zaeed in the back who nearly buckled over the table. Zaeed gave the young krogan a look that could kill. But the longer he stared at the laughing Grunt, his expression softened and he was slowly starting to chuckle himself. Shepard turned to Tali who was snickering quietly underneath her mask. Suddenly, the entire team was laughing, even Miranda and Jack had sheepish smiles on their faces.

There was just something about having surviving a brush with death that brings you closer with people.

"Well…" Jack and Miranda said in unison, bringing their heads up at the same time and unwittingly stared into each other's eyes.

"You first, Miranda." Jack conceded, using Miranda's name for the first time.

"I, I guess I have been unkind towards you…" Miranda said.

"And I've been an awful bitch, I know, I meant to be…" Jack replied.

"Look, maybe we can start over…"

""Maybe…" Jack said quietly, there was a pause in the group, until Jack continued with a wicked smile. "I'm still gonna call you cheer leader though…"

"Quite." Miranda said, smiling at the other woman.

"We good?" Jack said.

"It's a start."

Shepard let out a sigh of relief as the tension in the room broke. "Well that's one problem settled."

"Still 67 left to go, Shepard." Mordin replied, sliding him a data-pad with the ship's major problems on it. "Been doing the calculations; solutions far from conceivable at present. Maybe cut off frivolous expenditures, bare down to the basics. Still, not enough, not enough at all."

"We have money problems, I get it, okay?" Shepard replied wearily, scrolling through the data. Maybe he could pull some long term favors from his alliance contacts. As much as he didn't want to deal with those windbags in the council, he would have to sooner or later. Maybe do a little bit of what Jack recommended. Running through a few high profile bounties could get them back on their feet. Hell, it might do wonders for their reputation.

"Ahem, I think I might have the solution, ladies and gentlemen." Kasumi said in that shrewd tone of hers, stepping on top of the table and capturing everyone's attention. All eyes turned to her as she brought out her omni-tool, linking it to the table and letting out a stream of data. She transmitted the information onto the main hologram projector. "As you can see, I was planning to make this into my retirement plan, but I figured it would be better used as investment money."

The team's eyes went wide at the numbers she was projecting.

"Oh my." Mordin said. "It would appear this will do quite nicely, Shepard." He worked some calculations on his omni-tool. "Not only can we bring back the Normandy to her optimum state, we can further upgrade her."

"Damn, girl…" Jacob stated. "That's a lot of thermal rounds."

"Keelah…" Tali began, "That is enough credits to run one of the larger ships in the flotilla for nearly a year."

"Consensus: The amount is more than substantial to continue independent operations for the foreseeable future." Legion stated, "Recommendations: Accept the offer, Shepard-Commander."

"Kasumi, where did you-?" Shepard began, wide eyed.

"The greybox wasn't the only thing I took from Hock during that little fiasco at his party, I also took interest." She smiled wryly at the stunned faces around her as she linked it into the Ship's credit account. "Naturally when all this is over, I'll be expecting the amount spent plus a little interest on the side, eh Shepard?"

"Sure, sure…" he replied, still going over the numbers. This wasn't just Hock's account, the records showed arms dealing, smuggling, drug running. This was blood money. It made Shepard a bit uncomfortable, but this was just what the Normandy needed. "Would you like me to make you your coffee in the morning, too?"

"No need, Shepard." Kasumi said slyly. She shifted her stance slightly so that her backside was towards Jacob's direction, one hand on her hip, but still looking at Shepard. "I enjoy my coffee _black_."

Thane simply chuckled silently as Jacob turned a different shade, the other man clearing his throat.

"Since when did you get a sense of humor?" Jacob muttered, lightly elbowing the drell to his right.

"I don't get it." Grunt interjected audibly at Jacob.

"Damnit, Grunt…" Jacob said, ears turning red as he slumped back down his chair.

"I'll explain it to you later, Grunt." Samara said motherly as Grunt furrowed his brow still deep in thought.

Kasumi jumped down from the table and returned to her seat, facing Jacob with a predatory gleam in her eyes.

Jacob cleared his throat again and pretended not to notice.

Garrus kicked his feet up and leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. "Looks like things are slowly falling into place for you, eh Shepard? Money, hot quarian girlfriend, loyal crew…"

"Token turian smart ass." Shepard continued for his friend, making the room laugh some more.

"Racial jokes, Shepard?" Garrus said with a grin, "Really? You must be out of it."

"It would appear that endorphins have flooded our systems" Mordin interjected. "Typical reaction for when an organism is exhausted. All problems have been stated and discussed. Recommend ending the meeting now and give entire crew some R and R."

"I second the good doctor's motion." Zaeed added, stretching his arms, "Feels like I could sleep for weeks."

"All in favor?" Garrus said.

"Aye!" The entire team said in unison, looking at Shepard.

"Right, right, I can take a hint…" Shepard said, standing up. "EDI, arrange for the maintenance crew to work in shifts. The rest of you, dismissed."

"Copy that, Shepard." Edi said.

"Freedom!" Grunt said as he stood up and made for the door. "A good killing always makes me sleepy."

"I'll say." Zaeed said, following after the Krogan.

Soon, most of the team were already making their way to the door. Jacob was too busy checking something on his omni-tool to notice that the master thief in front of him disappeared from view.

"Join me in my room for a drink, Taylor?" Kasumi said as she appeared behind Jacob, catching the man off-guard as he was standing up. "A night cap before sleep relieves tension."

"Um, ah…" He stuttered. He never was good with talking to women, at least not when they fired the first shot, as they say. Thane however was of a much smoother disposition.

"Why Kasumi, Jacob has been going on and on about wanting a drink since we left the Collector base." Thane said as he got up, folding his hands behind his back and made for the door himself, joining the others who were already outside.

"Wait, what?" Jacob said stunned at Thane's retreating form.

"Great!" Kasumi yelled in triumph as she started pulling on Jacob's hand, the man being too flabbergasted to resist. "So will it be shots or are you more of a beer man, Jacob?"

"Yo seriously, Thane." He said as the drell left the room, "Who is putting you up to this, man?"

Outside, Jack sneered at Thane as she handed him a credit chit. "Got to hand it to you, Krios, you play dirty."

"I don't know what you speak of Jack." Thane said flatly as he pocketed the chit, "Looking forward to the next betting pool you set up."

He left her there as he walked down the corridor.

"Fuck you, Thane." Jack said grinning as the doors closed behind Thane. Shortly afterwards Kasumi was practically dragging Jacob with her, talking about her many heists. Miranda followed soon after, standing next to Jack and watched the couple leave. "You'd think we'd learn about letting him in on the pool after that whole Shepard/Samara debacle." She stretched her arms behind her head. "Who knew the 'Shep' would go for princess bucket head instead?"

"Thane, apparently." Miranda said, watching Jacob and Kasumi leave. "My, she is forward." She continued as Kasumi was practically latched onto Jacob's arm.

"Girl knows what she wants." Jack said, turning to the other woman, a mischievious grin on her face. "Jealous that someone else is homing in on your man?"

"He is _not_ my man." Miranda replied near indignantly, "What we have is strictly platonic and professional."

"What, you ain't down for men?" Jack added suggestively. "Didn't know the cheer leader played for the other team."

"You wish. It's called professionalism."

"Sure it is." Jack said, then added. "You know, this girl talk thing ain't half bad, but don't expect me to be BFF's with you overnight."

"Oh don't worry, I haven't been entertaining the thought." Miranda replied, checking her omni-tool for her to do list. It became rather empty since she didn't need to file a report to Cerberus about Shepard's actions every few hours. "Hey, Shepard said you love to read."

"What about it?" Jack said defensively.

"Well, I have my little personal library in my quarters," Miranda started rather sheepishly, "You're welcome to borrow some books anytime if you'd like."

"Fucking hell, are you…" Jack stated, squinting a bit. "Are you being nice to me?"

"It's not happening twice." Miranda replied flatly.

"Thanks…" Jack's face softened, "I'll drop by sometime."

"I'd like that." Miranda said as the two women walked down the corridor and out of the door.

Back in the debriefing room, Mordin, Legion and Samara had excused themselves, leaving Shepard, Tali and Garrus alone in the debriefing room.

"And then there were 3." Garrus said, stretching out and getting up from his chair. "Don't worry though, I'll be out of you two love bird's hair soon."

Tali blushed underneath her visor. "Go recalibrate yourself, Garrus."

Shepard pulled of his helmet and laughed. "No need to tell him that, Tali. It's like he doesn't know how to do anything else."

"Hey now!" Garrus interjected. "You weren't complaining when the cannons ate their way through that collector ship." He ran a hand through his fringe and headed for the door. "By the way Shepard, Donnely's been wanting to make back his losses on some Skyllian Five poker at the end of the week, you in?"

"I'll be there." Shepard replied with a grin. "Though I take no pride in draining Kenneth's life savings away from him."

"Really? Huh." Garrus said with mock shock, replaced by a grin of his own. "Still, you can't fault the man's dedication." He walked past the door and added slyly. "See you two in several hours, do use protection."

Tali was just about to retort but the doors closed, leaving Garrus with the last word.

"That… that…" She simply said as Shepard shook his head in amusement.

"Hey." Shepard said with a smile, causing her to turn to him. All of a sudden, Tali was very aware that they were very alone in the room.

"Hey." She replied, feeling her annoyance ebb away, replaced by something more comfortable yet pensive at the same time.

"We haven't had the time to talk since getting back from the mission." He said, taking her hand in his and looking at her with that disarming smile of his. "How are you?"

"I, I'm fine, really. I've just been a little overworked down in the engine room. Not that I'm complaining or anything, no! Gabby and Kenneth really do pick up a lot of the slack and…" Tali stammered, tripping over her words. "And, and the core, don't get me started about the core… and…" she, put a palm onto her face plate and sighed. "I'm doing it again aren't I?"

"Not as bad as usual." Shepard just chuckled, and then frowned as he started to feel how warm her hand was through her gloves. "You're sick." He began, face filling with worry.

"Oh, this? This is nothing." Tali assured, her voice a little panicked. "I'm running a fever, have a nasty cough, and my sinuses are filled with something I can't even describe…"

"Tali…" Shepard began apologetically.

"But it was worth it." Tali reassured. Shepard smiled; he was getting familiar with the tones of her voice. Even if he couldn't see her face, he knew she was smiling. "Besides, Mordin gave me a cocktail of antibiotics that should flush my system and have me up and running in no time."

"Still, as your commander, it's my duty to ensure your health." Shepard grabbed her and stood up, carrying the surprised quarian like a princess. "I think some bed rest in the captain's cabin is in order."

"John!" Tali yelped as she swung her hands around his neck for support. "People will see!"

"I didn't know I embarrassed you, Tali." He replied mischeviously.

"What I, no! I was just saying… that is… Um… Keelah…" She began, then furrowed her brow. "Hey, you're doing it again! You're making me stutter like a damn fool."

"Sorry, heh, I'll work on it." He said, walking past the door, his lover in his arms. "Don't worry too much, CIC should be deserted by now." There was a long quiet accentuated by his footfalls as they exited the corridor and detoured through the tech lab. "Hey, Tali…"

"Hmm?" She replied, her head buried in his chest.

"I'm glad you thought it was worth it." He said, smiling down at her.

"Oh John…" They made their way into the elevator and Tali pushed the button up to Deck 1. "You are such a dork."

"I try." The doors of the elevator closed and part of Shepard wished he could have this moment forever.

* * *

><p>Author: A light-hearted start as the crew wind down from the mission's adrenalin rush. I'm still very new at this and I hope my character banter is fluid enough.<p> 


	3. Too good to be true

Chapter 2: Too good to be true

* * *

><p>It was dark. The blackness lay thick and smothered him, making it difficult to move. No, not difficult, impossible. He slowly started to feel the bindings on his body that held him down. Strength depleted, he feebly struggled against them.<p>

He was being held here against his will, but why?

It was still black, but his sense of touch was slowly returning. He wishes it hadn't.

He felt the sting of myriads of tubes piercing through the skin of his arms, neck and legs, and other places that rang in agony. He wanted to scream, but he found his throat to be encroached by a number of tubes going down his esophagus and trachea.

The pain traced across his body like a hand drawing a knife across his skin. His body tensed against his restraints, causing the pain to spike even more. His movements still felt heavy, and he was pretty sure he was immersed in some kind of liquid.

He bit down on the tubes as he felt more needles snake its way roughly into his body.

He could hear now, but the sounds were muffled at best. Slowly, he began to be aware of the sound of a loud beating drum, almost tribal in nature. It was his heart, reverberating in his head through the muffled silence. The sounds rang clearer now over the beating drums. They were voices. He was not alone; he didn't know if that was a comfort or something terrible.

His lungs burned as air was forcibly pumped in and out, somehow keeping him alive. The taste in his mouth was coppery, like blood, and he gagged on the tubes down his throat.

Where am I? He asked himself as his thoughts became more coherent. His mind raced as his memories flooded back into him. A sudden alarm overtook him, his heart beat increasing its pace. He had to get out of here.

He slowly felt control come back to his face, lids quivering as they stung against the unknown liquids.

Slowly, reluctantly, he opened his eyes, the liquid searing them as he did so. Slowly, shapes began to form in the haze. His eyes darted to and fro, searching frantically for any sign of escape. The space was confined, a tank, he thought. Then as his vision slowly regained itself, the silhouette of a man slowly formed in front of him.

He did not know how he had accomplished it, but he had screamed.

Surely he was in hell, for the devil was staring right back at him, a fiendish smile on its lips.

* * *

><p>John Shepard woke up with a start. Bolting upright, he ran his hands through his face, arms and chest. His heart was racing and his breathing felt as if he had just run a mile under fire. The sheets felt damp, and he noticed he was soaked in his own sweat. "What… What was that?"<p>

He took a deep breath and wiped his face with his hand. Looking at the bedside clock, he saw that it was still early in the morning, Earth time; the time they used when on the ship.

_A nightmare_, he told himself as he inspected his arms for any sign of injury. Unsurprisingly, maybe even a little thankfully, he found none that he could see.

"Must be the stress." He muttered to himself as he inwardly grinned at the understatement. Looks like the endorphin rush Mordin talked about had worn off and Mr. Harsh Reality decided to pay him a visit in his sleep. He was laughing softly about it now, but he remembered it so vividly. Unnatural was the best way to put it.

He was snapped out of his musings by an almost squeak like groan beside him, and he remembered he wasn't alone.

Next to him was Tali'Zorah Vas Normandy, his trusty engineer, crewmate and recently, lover. She was still clad in her protective suit as she slept next to him. Despite what Garrus had been teasing them with last night, they had not done anything beyond cuddling and sweet talk. Shepard didn't want to push their luck and risk Tali's health further. It was a 'difficult' choice, given how last time Tali had showed him just how… let's just say she wasn't as sweet and innocent as she seemed to be. He smiled as she mumbled something in her sleep and cooed, curling up underneath the sheets.

Nope, he had never seen that coming. He still had the scratch marks to prove it.

He sat there for a little while longer, just watching her sleep. She was beautiful, he thought. No, not just what lay underneath the helmet; Not that he didn't like what he saw, mind you. The first time they met was a day he'd never forget. It wasn't quite love at first sight, but the thought slowly crept its way into his heart. She was soft yet strong, gentle yet fierce, intelligent but not overbearing. He remembered the time they had together before the tragedy of the first Normandy. He had all the time in the world to have told her, and he had died not letting her know how he felt. Died like a damn fool, wondering if she ever loved him back? Wondering was there something that could've been? All that time they had together, who knew she felt the same way?

2 years, four billion credits and a miracle of science later, he had the chance countless other beings will never have.

Whenever she was with him, it felt like everything made sense. So he just sat there and watched the rise and fall of her chest as she slept. By chance, he took another glance at the bedside clock and was shocked to see he had been watching her for nearly an hour now.

"Hour well spent…" He whispered as he rubbed his eyes and lay down back next to her. He drifted to sleep as he touched his forehead against her visor, and she nuzzled into his neck.

Several hours later…

Shepard had slept peacefully the rest of the night, waking up as Tali gave him an affectionate hug. The quarian gave a tiny yawn and said. "Ahhh… Did you sleep well, John?"

"Like a baby…" He replied half-truthfully, rubbing his eyes and smiling weakly at her. No need to panic her over some dream, he thought, stretching his arms.

_He's so cute when he's just waking up_, she thought, resisting the urge to just tackle him and hug him all day long. This was a side of him only she got to saw. Commander John Shepard, Specter and decorated war hero, Savior of the Citadel, adorable as a child. Her eyes were then drawn to how his muscles flexed as he stretched. The tingling sensation in her chest told her that there wasn't anything remotely child-like about that. She was thankful she still had her suit on because she was blushing furiously as her mind wandered to the more intimate things they had done a few nights prior. _Keelah, the things he did with those strong hands… _Who knew that another's touch could be so… intoxicating.

She was brought out of her reverie when she felt said hand holding hers. "Oh!"

"Somebody was out of it." Shepard said, smiling. "How are you feeling?"

"I… I'm feeling better, yes…" Tali replied, looking into Shepard's eyes and squeezing back_. _She paused for a little bit in uncertainty, but the look he had in his eye overrode any semblance of common sense. _Keelah, I need this_, she thought. She slowly glanced to the side, holding in a hurrah of victory as she noted there was still a couple of hours before either of their assigned duties start.

"Tali?" Shepard said, still smiling but puzzled.

"Oh I am definitely feeling very well, Shepard." Throwing uncertainty to the wind, she placed her other hand on his chest and violently shoved him back down onto the bed. In a fluid motion, she was straddled on top of him. "In fact, who knows…?" She ran her hands up to her chest and proceeded to accentuate her endowments with suggestive squeezing. "I might be well enough to get sick again…"

Shepard recognized the woman in front of him as Tali, but the sound in her voice and the things she was doing put the sluttiest asari to shame. Suddenly, she grabbed him by the back of the neck, and pulled him up until he was face to visor with her. "What the-"

"Hush." Tali said, putting a finger on his lips. Her voice was husky, predatory. "Listen to me. Out there, you might be the great and powerful Commander Shepard, captain of the Normandy and savior of the known galaxy."

She shoved him back down again and rand a finger across his bare chest. "But in here..." She paused as the hand ran down his stomach, past his navel and snagging on the garter of his underwear. "You are mine." Her fingers slowly tugged downwards, and she was pleased to see her ministrations did not go unappreciated.

"Tali, wait!" Shepard blurted out, and he could all but see the raised eyebrow directed at him.

"Too intense for you, _Shepard_?" she said with a sweetness laced with something else.

"Er… No, actually, It's just that well, I…"

Tali had to hold her laughter at the irony of Shepard fumbling over his word, deciding to take a mental note of it to harass him later. Instead, she spoke musically. "John Shepard, I just worked my ass off making sure your damn ship stayed afloat with only paperclips and string to work with." Her voice narrowed into something sharper. "This better be good."

Shepard, for his part, finally got it together. "It's just that I sweated a lot last night in my sleep due to an air-conditioning malfunction and who knows what kind of bacteria I'm harboring in my skin?" _Smooth, Shepard…_ he thought to himself.

Tali sighed loudly, "Do you have that heavy antibacterial scrub Mordin formulated for you?"

"It's uh, it's in the shower."

Tali cocked her head to the side and got off of him, sidling off the bed and stood up, facing the exit. At first he thought he had offended her and he sat up to her and stop her from leaving. Then his eyes saw the sway of her hips and just how much her suit hugged her body.

There was the hissing noise of air and Shepard glanced upward to see that she had taken off her visor and helmet with her back to him. Her hands worked around her suit as she unclasped, unbuttoned and unzipped; every few steps leading to more of her suit lying on the floor. Soon she was practically topless with only her leggings left, her hair draping across her back. She went up the steps and stopped at the top, bending forward as she snuck both thumbs to the sides of her leggings and pulled them down. The full moon never looked so beautiful thought Shepard, as Tali got back up, still sticking her behind out. With a flick of her foot, she kicked off the leggings to the side of the stairs and ran a hand over her glorious rear.

She turned the corner and Shepard saw her nude form through the display of model ships he had. She lazily opened the bathroom door and turned to look at him over her shoulder, giving him a lusty look that would send lesser men into a coma. She stepped into the shower and closed the door behind her.

Shepard sat there for a few seconds before fumbling his way out of the bed and practically jogging after Tali.

* * *

><p>Two glorious hours later…<p>

Shepard stretched his fingers as he slipped on the gloves and gauntlets of his armor. Like the rest of the suit, the plates' surface were chipped, burnt and riddled with bullet holes; testament to the death defying feats his crew performed during the mission. He clasped on the greaves and the steel soled boots, hearing the gratifying click of the locking mechanism as he shifted his position to adjust to the sudden constriction. He grabbed his helmet and slipped it on, the mechanism locking in with the rest of his suit with a twist. It was dark for a little bit, until the HUD fired up, streaming start-up data before calibrating properly. He checked himself in the mirror and cocked his Carnifex Hand cannon, aiming it at his reflection. He always had this baby close-by just in case. Sitting by the foot of his bed was his girlfriend, looking on with amusement.

"Pretty slick, John." Tali giggled as she adorned her scarf over her helmet. "Real intimidating like."

"Hey, a knight in shining armor has to be prepared to defend his princess." He replied, holstering the pistol.

She gave him a top to bottom look over. "Shining. Riiight…." His armor had definitely seen better days.

"What? This thing got me through hell and back." He said, "I mean Garrus still wears his beat up armor and it works fine."

"Garrus' armor doesn't make him look like a knight from the kingdom of junklandia." She said wryly, as she stood up. "I'm just saying the look would be complete if you had some duct tape wrapped around a few places."

Shepard laughed and walked towards his lover, putting his arms around her waist. "Well now, at least you're pretty enough to cover up for my fashion faux pas."

"Keep talking, Sir Knight, your princess likes what she hears." She giggled but cut herself short as she coughed. "Ugh… Bosh'tet…"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." She began, though she sensed he was unconvinced. "Really, I am." She stood up on her tip toes and pressed her visor against his. She then got free from his hold and made for the door, her voice was that of a mischievous child, a skip in her step. "C'mon commander, play time is over, time for work."

"Yes ma'am." He replied.

After a quick breakfast, Shepard said his goodbye to Tali on the elevator, getting off on the CIC while she proceeded to Engineering. The CIC was bristling with activity as crewmen worked double time to monitor any fluctuations on the damaged ship. He went up to his yeoman, Kelly, who handed him a datapad.

"Good morning commander." Kelly said, "Just a few things for you to sign."

"Good morning, Kelly." he said cheerfully, as he scrolled through the data. "Got anything else for me?"

"Nothing unusual to report for now, sir." she began in her usual peppy demeanor.

"Thanks," he said as he signed the datapad with his digital signature. He gave her a nod and proceeded up the bridge towards the cockpit. The crew men he passed all saluted him enthusiastically. Par for the course when the man who just saved you from a gruesome death strode by. He saluted back, although he never did like the overly disciplined formality of military ships. He figured he'd let it run its course. As he approached the cockpit, he could hear the usual banter between Joker and EDI.

"And that's why it's funny when you say 'I'll be back.'" Joker said with an exasperated tone in his voice.

"Joker, EDI, how's the helm?" Shepard asked, walking up to the duo.

"Hey commander," The pilot began, swinging around to face Shepard. "We're just taking her slow and steady. I was thinking maybe we could make EDI our new symbol since we're ditching the Cerberus motif. With artistic interpretation of course."

EDI piped up "Mr. Moreau, for the last time, the images you were pulling up on the extranet last night does not symbolize me in the least."

"Relax EDI, I was just teasing you."

Shepard merely stared at them.

"Honest." Joker added, turning to Shepard as he cleared his throat. "Besides, I hear Goto-sama is our new CEO, so we should use her symbol."

"Goto-sama?" Shepard repeated, cocking an eyebrow.

"I'm just using the proper honorifics to address the new boss." Joker stated flatly.

"Kasumi's just our main financier, I still call the shots, Joker."

"And yet who countersigns all the chits?" Joker replied matter of factly as he spinned around, facing the helm again. "ETA in 3 hours, Commander. Just try not to come back with another crazy, gung-ho, cut-throat lunatic when we leave, okay? I mean the bunch you have is fine and all, but you're gonna be pushing your luck sooner or later."

"I'll do my best." Shepard said with a chuckle, "Also, we won't be making port immediately. Cruise around the station until I give the signal."

"You got it, Shepard." Joker said, looking over his shoulder. "Just remember, no more crazies."

"Later Joker, EDI." He said as he turned and left.

"It'll be the death of us one day!" Joker yelled after him. "I bet Goto-sama would agree with me!"

Shepard just shook his head in amusement as he walked off. Still, Joker had a point. Maybe he should have a talk with Kasumi if she needed anything in particular? He feels it only proper to oblige her now. But that can wait until after Omega.

"Kelly." He said as he approached the yeoman.

"Yes commander?"

"Inform the team that we'll have a meeting in an hour, tell them it's about organizing our little shore leave."

"You're expecting trouble, aren't you commander?" Kelly began, a tinge of concern in her voice. "You don't usually wear your armor on deck."

"Just making sure we're ready for anything they throw at us." Shepard said reassuringly, "I'll be in the armory if I'm needed, thanks, Kelly."

"Anytime, commander."

Shepard nodded and headed for the armory. All thoughts of that nightmare had since been dashed from his mind. The only thing that bothered him now was that maybe his armor could use a little polishing.


	4. Blood Grudges

Chapter 3: Blood Grudges

* * *

><p>The smell of stale air, cigarette smoke and misery.<p>

That was the first thing newcomers would notice when they step into the docks of Omega. The second would be that eerie feeling of eyes watching you're every move.

They weren't wrong.

Shepard clicked his tongue as the airlock doors opened, revealing the graffiti that decorated the spaceport docks. Beside him were Jack and Grunt, who nonchalantly followed the commander as he walked into Omega.

Grunt sniffed the air and let out a low growl. "It smells like death in here, battlemaster." He said as they walked down the corridor. "You should've taken me here sooner." He added excitedly.

They turned the corner and entered the main plaza, the After-Life bar looming over in the distance.

Jack merely took out some gum from her pocket and popped it into her mouth. "This place is a shit-hole." She said, blowing a bubble which popped just as quickly. "Bet'cha the drinks are killer, huh Shepard?"

"You can say that." Shepard replied with amusement as he remembered his first time on the station. "Just watch out for batarian bartenders."

"So we _are_ going on a bender later." Jack said with excitement in her voice. She turned towards the krogan next to her, "Sorry kid, adults only."

"I am Krogan!" Grunt replied indignantly. "By krogan law, I am a fullfledged adult!"

"By everyone else's you're a month and a half old, kiddo." She teased, a wry look on her face, making Grunt fume and smack his fists together.

"Don't tease him, Jack." Shepard interjected. "Besides, we got a courtesy call to make first. Which reminds me…" He whipped out his omnitool and spoke into it. "Everyone in position?"

* * *

><p>An hour earlier…<p>

"We just went through hell and back." Shepard replied, "I'm not about to get jumped by some mercs looking for a quick buck." He enlarged the holo map of Omega.

"Agreed." Garrus replied, looking over the map.

"So let's summarize…" Shepard began, bringing up different locations on the map. "Garrus; you, Kasumi and Legion are on recon." He looked over as the two others he mentioned walked up next to Garrus. Kasumi had her trademark grin while Legion merely waited for Shepard to continue. "You know this station like the back of your hand, Garrus. I need you to go ahead of us and pick up any chatter about merc movements or bounties on us. "

"Tour guide duty, got it." The turian replied, crossing his arms.

"I hope you know how to show a girl a good time, Garrus." Kasumi said loud enough for Jacob to hear. Jacob for his part merely cleared his throat; the girl was playing dirty now.

"Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander." Legion simply stated.

Shepard then turned to Zaeed. "Zaeed, you take Thane and Samara with you. Your group will shadow ours after we leave the Normandy."

"I got your back, Shepard." Zaeed said.

"You can count on us." Samara began.

Thane merely nodded grimly.

Shepard then turned to Jacob Mordin and Miranda. "You three stay with the ship along with Tali. The moment the Normandy drops off Zaeed's group, I want the ship to go directly to the repair bay Garrus marked on the map."

Jacob nodded and said, "I'll keep this ship under lockdown, Shepard."

"Understand the need for security, Shepard." Mordin said, "Still, would like to visit clinic when things die down. Check in on Daniel and old staff."

"Of course, Mordin." Shepard said, "As soon as we've secured Omega, we'll organize a shore leave."

"I would appreciate that, yes."

"I still don't see why you can't take me, at least." Miranda began.

"Settle down, cheerleader." Jack said with a smug look on her face. "I'll put in a few good hits for you."

"A hit from you is equivalent to 3 of mine." She replied, a smug look on her own face. "So I think I'll pass, thanks."

"Bitch." Jack said, grinning dangerously.

Shepard just shook his head. Jack and Miranda had put aside their differences, but what they had replaced it with was a 'friendly' rivalry at best. "Miranda, I need you here to protect the ship. We're stretched thin as is, and I need someone powerful to make sure the crew is safe."

"… Alright." Miranda said, seemingly content with his answer.

"Alright then." Shepard said, then turning to Tali. "Tali, I don't want other hands but ours to touch this ship." He began. It felt strange talking to her like this, but she had agreed with him that maintaining professionalism during meetings was for the best. "I made it clear to the foreman of the repair bay that we'd pay extra just for the use of their facilities and none of their men."

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Shepard." Tali replied.

"Glad to hear it." He nodded then turned to Jack and Grunt. "You two are with me. If things go ugly in the club, we're going to need some CQC."

"Nice." Jack said, cracking her knuckles. Grunt merely grunted and slammed his fists together.

Garrus scratched his scarred mandible as he went over the plan again on the holograms. "I got to say, Shepard," he began, "You have all your bases covered. I'm almost impressed."

Shepard laughed, "Well, let's all just hope this was all the product of paranoia and we can laugh about it later over a couple of dozen shots."

* * *

><p>Present…<p>

"This is Zaeed." Came the voice from Shepard's omnitool, "We have disembarked and the Normandy has departed." Shepard heard guns cocking in the background. "We'll give you a five minute head start."

"Copy that, Zaeed." He replied, then switching frequencies. "Garrus, how are things on your end?"

"We're in Eclipse territory." Came the whispered reply. "Nothing out of the ordinary, same scum, new boss. An asari named Tarrana." There was a tone to his voice Shepard knew well. One that said a pull of a trigger and the Omega branch of Eclipse would have to find a new boss.

"Another time, just stay out of sight." Shepard said. "I need Garrus right now, not Archangel."

"Don't know what you're talking about." Garrus replied, but Shepard heard the regret in his voice. "Will keep you updated, over and out."

He switched the frequency again over to the Normandy. It was EDI who greeted him. "We are approaching the repair bay, commander." Joker's voice then came up, "Smooth sailing so far, commander. Just in time too; Tali's says she's no miracle worker. If we hadn't gotten hear any sooner, we would've had to tow my baby."

"Good to hear, keep me updated."

"Gotcha, commander. Normandy out."

"So what now?" Jack said, hands on her hips. Shepard deactivated his omnitool and started walking.

"Now? Now we head into the belly of the beast and hope it's not hungry."

"Let it be hungry." Grunt said, "I'll give it something to choke on."

Omega hustled as the trio walked on. It was the station that never slept. Neon lights blazed as far as the eye could see. The heavy bass that echoed from behind the closed doors of the clubs that lined the main hub made up her heartbeat; Deadly and erratic. The streets were filled with people looking for a good time. Some eyes lingered on them, but lingered away quicker as they caught a glimpse of how armed his squad was as they walked by.

Soon, they were in front of Afterlife. Shepard stopped as a batarian approached him flanked by a couple of other armed thugs.

"Aria's been expecting you, Shepard." Garka announced gruffly, "Follow me."

"I was beginning to wonder when the welcome wagon would show up." He said as he walked alongside the Batarian.

"We were busy." The reply came in the tone that this topic wouldn't be entertained anymore.

Shepard mused on what he meant as they went past the entrance lobby, standing before the doors of the club floor. The doors opened, and the music came blasting through. The beat was quick and heavy, and the group made their way through a crowd of people, drinking and dancing without a care in the world. On the ledges were asari dancers, twisting and gyrating, almost hypnotically to the beat. They came up to the stairwell going to the vip section of the main club.

Shepard gave the batarian guard, Anto, a nod as he passed by. Anto nodded back, still indebted to him for his help with a salarian called Ish.

Soon, he was in the familiar lounge of the pirate queen of Omega. Aria sat there, one leg over the other, arms resting on the large couch. The trio approached, but Garka stopped them. "Your friends stay here."

"And if I refuse?" Shepard replied, stepping up towards Garka and stared him down. The batarian was able to maintain eye contact for a couple of moments before his gaze slowly drifted elsewhere. Aria then laughed out loud. It has been a while since she saw her lieutenant cower like that.

"Indulge me, Shepard." She said in her usual snide tone.

Shepard looked into her eyes for a moment; all he saw was the usual relax but cunning expression staring back at him. After a moment, he said. "Jack, Grunt, try not to get into any fistfights while I talk to the nice lady, will you?"

"No promises." Jack said cheerfully, Grunt just nodded in agreement.

"Good enough." Shepard replied as he walked towards Aria, who nodded him towards his usual seat. He made himself comfortable. There was silence between them, but Shepard knew how this works: Aria always spoke to you first.

"I hear we have you to thank for our continued existence." Aria said, turning to Shepard lazily. "How does it feel to be the first crew to ever make it back from the Omega Relay?"

"Like hell." Shepard replied, making her chuckle. "I suppose you also know why I'm here."

Aria looked him over then gestured to a pretty asari dressed in something that left little to the imagination. The girl bowed and quickly left downstairs. She turned back to him, "You have Omega's hospitality, Shepard." A moment later, the girl came back with a tray with two glasses and a pitcher containing a purple colored liquid. She poured Aria a drink and handed it to the queen, then approached Shepard who took it with a courteous nod. Aria took a sip, closing her eyes as the fiery concoction went down her throat. She looked at him again, "But I need to ask you a favor to ensure that."

_Here comes the catch_, thought Shepard. "What's up?"

"You won't have anything to fear from me," She began, taking another sip before continuing, "but I hear you rattled Cerberus up pretty bad."

"Word gets around fast."

"Fortunately for you, I hear it first." She swirled the drink in her glass, "but it won't be long 'til the merc groups get wind. The price he put on your head Shepard? They'd risk my wrath even if I made known you are under my protection."

"And the price doesn't interest _you_?"

"Cerberus doesn't interest me," She replied. "I've dealt with them on numerous occasions but I don't jump when they tell me to." She took another sip. "The merc groups won't be of the same mindset."

"I don't plan to linger, if that's what you're saying." Shepard said, still not touching his drink.

"No, you won't." Aria said definitively. "I won't have my station be turned into a petty warzone."

They were quiet for a minute as she finished the rest of her drink.

"But." Shepard broke the silence. "I'm not just gonna standby if anyone raises a hand to me or my crew." He said, leaning back on the chair and looking at the ceiling. "If they do so, they're dead."

"Just keep the collateral to a minimum." Aria conceded.

Shepard's omnitool beeped. He bypassed the connection to his HUD, giving a measure of privacy. Garrus' voice was urgent. "You got incoming." He began. "Bloodpack, seven of them. Their leader is one of the biggest Krogans I've ever seen. We intercepted their transmissions too late, they should be in front of the club now."

The frequency shifted, and Zaeed's voice came up "We have a visual. By god, keep your wits about you Shepard, moving in to cover you."

"Copy that." He said as Aria's Turian body guard, Grizz, came flying up the stairwell into another one of her guards.

Weapons were drawn faster than anybody could blink. Aria was flanked by her other guards while Grunt and Jack quickly came up to his side, guns drawn.

"ARIAAA!" The roar belonged to a large Krogan dressed in Bloodpack armor, easily taller by a head compared to his peers who walked behind him. He approached the lounge, walking as if he owned the place, scaring the dancers to hide behind the couches. Bloodpack krogan and vorcha blocked off any escape route. "ARIA, I DEMAND JUSTICE!"

Aria walked up to him unperturbed. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Zarm?"

"I demand justice for my brother's death!" He looked as if he was ready to swat her aside, but he merely fumed. A clawed glove pointed towards Shepard. "He's the one! The killer of my brood-brother!"

Aria turned to Shepard. "I was going to tell you, Shepard." She began, "This is Zarm, new leader of Omega's Blood pack; you've met his brother."

"Garm." Shepard said, recollecting that day that he had rescued Garrus. "He fought well."

"That he did." Zarm agreed, the blood lust in his eyes barely contained. "But honor dictates I avenge my kin."

"I'm not sorry for what I had to do." Shepard began, walking up to the larger Krogan. He cast a glance towards Aria. "But I won't fight you here."

"You run from me?" Zarm began. "COWARD!"

"I'll fight you outside." Shepard continued. "One on one. No one else needs to die."

Zarm looked him over, for a moment, he looked like he was going to laugh, but rage overrode any other emotion. "Very well. Outside. 15 minutes. If you run, I'll find you and kill you where you stand." With a gesture to his men, they turned and left.

"Hnn." Aria said as she turned and sat back on her spot. The dancers around the ledges of her lounge, who had hid in fear during the confrontation, slowly got back to their spots and danced to the beat again. Several men were lifting Grizz back to his feet. He was winded but otherwise unharmed. A minute later, it seemed like nothing happened. "You handled that well, Shepard."

"I've been on Tuchanka." Shepard admitted as Grunt nodded.

"I got your back, Shepard." The young krogan said, raring for a fight. "I can take half while you and Jack handle the rest."

Shepard shook his head. "No. I don't want any interference unless they make the first move."

"Are you serious?" Jack said in disbelief, "Did you see the size of that thing?"

"Yeah, I'd like to avoid a large gunfight in the plaza if I can help it. But if I can't…" He switched his comm back on. "Zaeed, Garrus, did you get all that?"

"You got a pair made out of steel, Shepard." Zaeed responded, impressed. "We'll be in position."

"I Hope they stick to your conditions." Garrus began sarcastically. "It'd be unfortunate if they didn't."

"EHEM." Aria said, clearing her throat loudly, causing Shepard to turn to her. "The clock is ticking, Shepard. Try not to make a big mess."

* * *

><p>Duels were common in the lawless space station, and everybody knew the drill. The plaza in front of the club had been cleared of people, but more than a few hid behind cover and watched eagerly. Tonight was probably the most high profile one in recent history. If the whispers were true, not only was one of the combatants Zarm, leader of the blood pack, infamous for tearing his opponents into pieces with his bare hands, but his opponent was the legendary hero of the Citadel, Commander John Shepard.<p>

The two stood face to face as Zarm's blood pack and his squad cleared off the bystanders.

"I have a request." Shepard began, catching the krogan surprised by his boldness. "My friend over there is a biotic, I want her to enclose us in a biotic field."

"You dare suggest I would run?" Zarm replied, murder in his voice.

"I don't want innocent people to get caught in the crossfire."

Zarm blinked, then nodded, a cruel smile on his face. "Tell her to make it as large as she can; she won't have to hold it for long."

"No, she won't." Shepard replied unintimidated. "Jack, set up a biotic field around us, 30 by 30 feet if you can manage it."

"Can I?" Jack replied with mock insult from the sidelines behind him, "I make larger ones in my sleep." She raised both arms and a bright blue aura engulfed her, eyes glowing nearly white. A moment later, a dome of shimmering energy surrounded them. "Make it quick, Shepard."

Grunt crossed his arms, his gaze wandering to spot Zaeed or Garrus, just in case. He saw the veteran mercenery's group in the sidelines on Zarm's side, a few feet behind Zarm's blood pack warriors. Garrus' group was nowhere in sight. He turned his sights back on the duo in the field. They were on opposite sides of the battleground, far apart. It was about to start.

Zarm roared as he brought out a large shotgun, similar to Grunt's own claymore. He cocked it and ran head long for Shepard.

Shepard reached behind him and pulled out his revenant machine gun. He breathed out slowly as the world seemed to slow down around him. He aimed down the sights at the rapidly closing Krogan, going for his knees. He pulled the trigger, firing in alternate bursts as he hit his marks. He clucked his tongue as it barely slowed down the charging krogan who was almost upon him. _He'll wait to be in killing range before firing that shotgun; I have a couple of seconds at least._

Sure enough, he rolled out of the way to the left just in time to see the ground he was just standing on turn into a crater. Getting down on one knee, he banked on the krogan's momentum from preventing Zarm performing any sharp turns. Sure enough, the warlord, ran further, skidding to a halt mere feet away from Jack's barrier. This gave Shepard ample time to switch out his ammo for heat rounds. He looked down the sights and unloaded a full volley on the recovering Zarm, who staggered backwards as he shielded his face from the flames.

_One clip_, Shepard thought as he swiftly reloaded, slowly advancing on the staggering krogan. _Two clips_, as that one clicked empty and he slammed in a fresh one. The flames practically enveloped his target as he slammed in a fourth, and Zarm fell on one knee. In his peripheral vison, he could see Grunt and Jack cheering him on. _Almost there…_

Almost but no cigar.

There was a guttural roar that overcame the crackling fire and Zarm rushed towards him, swatting Shepard aside before he could dodge. "DIE HUMAN!"

Everything was a bright light for a moment as he skidded to a halt almost 15 feet away. Shepard got to his arms and knees , HUD blaring red as that one strike knocked out his shields. His gun had landed too far from him as he noticed two very large feet slowly make his way towards him. He tried to move but his body wouldn't listen. _Damn it! Move!_

His gaze turned upwards to see the advancing Zarm. Parts of his armor was still smouldering and a part of his face was burned black, but his eyes still held the same killer intent. He cocked his shotgun.

_MOVE!_ Shepard yelled inwardly. He felt his leg twitch, and not a moment later, he rolled out of the way again as the ground he was on blew up, sending steel shards from the floor flying everywhere. He got to his feet and pulled out his Carnifex, aligning it with Zarm's face.

He pulled the trigger twice, sending 2 high powered rounds that took off a chunk of Zarm's bony fringe. Gruesome, but it wasn't a kill shot. Zarm pointed the massive shotgun towards him again and roared his pain as he pulled the trigger. It was too far to be a direct kill shot, but the concussive force knocked him back again. His shields held this time, but just barely. His already war torn armor was now missing a sizable chunk of his right shoulder guard and breast plate. He heard the shotgun cock, and jumped aside, narrowly dodging the thunderous shot that would've killed him for sure. He landed roughly this time, feeling a few of his ribs crack on impact. He bit his lip, ignoring the pain as he and rolled on his back, bringing up the Carnifex again.

Zarm was roaring, reloading the shot gun as he charged towards Shepard.

The world seemed to slow down one more time that day as he aligned it to Zarm's face again as he turned. He only had time to pull the trigger once.

One shot was all he needed.

The bullet went past Zarm's gaping maw, blowing his brains out the back of his head. The large Krogan fumbled in his stance for a bit, walking forward before falling onto his knees, faceplanting inches away from Shepard's feet.

By now, Shepard felt his heart racing a hundred miles an hour. As far as cutting it close came, that was the closest he'd been for the second time in the same week. He lay there, staring up at the far ceiling of the station as darkness encroached him.

Sure enough, at the sight of their fallen leader, one of the Blood Pack suddenly roared. "KILL THEM ALL!"

No sooner as the krogan had said that, Zaeed, Thane and Samara had pulled out their guns and started mowing down the warriors from behind. The surviving warriors turned to face their ambushers, but their heads exploded one by one. Far off in the distance, Garrus and Legion picked off any krogan not within Zaeed's kill zone, Kasumi cheering them on.

Jack and Grunt closed in on Shepard, gunning down several varren who ran headlong towards their commander. With one arm, Grunt grabbed the unconscious Shepard and slung him over his shoulders. Zaeed ran up to them after unloading his rifle on a krogan who was crawling away. "Is he…?"

"Alive, but in a bad way." Jack said, checking Shepard's vitals via her omnitool.

"This is Zaeed to the Normandy! Do you copy?"

"Normandy here, what's up Zae-?" Joker began but was cut off.

"Prep the med bay! Shepard's wounded!"

"Wha-? Got it. I'm sending the shuttle!"

"No need." came the voice of Aria T'Loak. All their guns were pointed towards her before Zaeed told them to stand down. "Smarrt man. I can lend you a ride. Leave as soon as your ship repairs are complete."

"Thank you." Zaeed said as the group warily followed Aria's men who led them to a couple of sky-cars.

Aria watched as the vehicles flew off, then looked around the front of her club with disdain. "Somebody clean up this fucking mess."


	5. Nightmare Fuel

A/N: Wow, that was some couple of weeks what with semestrals and what not. I've been unsatisfied with back reading my own work. Part of the learning curve I guess. GoG Toxic, that's good enough advice for me.

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><p>Chapter 4: Nightmare Fuel<p>

It was dark again. The liquid that enveloped him was freezing; the only thing he heard was the muffled sounds of bubbles that seemed to come from the bottom of his prison. But the most important thing was the pain had stopped. His body was still defiled and violated by countless things sticking into him, but he was now far detached from the burning sensation that coursed through his veins. He tried escaping to a memory, to focus on something good that could get him through this. He needed something to look forward to if he could get himself free.

No, not _if_; but _when_ he gets free. His fists clenched at the thought. He would kill everybody who did this to him. He tensed against his binds. He didn't know if it was his imagination, but he felt them give; just the tiniest change in their tightness around his wrists. Soon, he would make these devils pay. He had to get out of here. He had something important to do. It was a mission, an important one! He had a ship, a crew, and… and something else… no, not something… someone else.

The image in his head was hazy, but he recognized the silhouette of it at least. It was a woman. Was it _his_ woman? He wasn't sure, but the image wouldn't get any clearer, as if he was missing the last pieces to a puzzle.

He needed something, anything… A face, or even just a name.

_A name._ He dug deeper but he found nothing. _Please?_ he thought, broken and defeated. All he wanted was a name to hold on to.

_It… It started with a T, right?_

_Teresa? No, it was a shorter name._

_Tera? No…_

_Tara? No, but it sounded close._

Then he could hear them again. Those voices. Their Laughter.

It started to echo around him, and he clenched his eyes closed further. _No, they won't take this away from me._ He didn't know exactly how, but the devils were toying with his mind. They have been putting in memories so alien yet familiar. Of battlefields and gunfights and killing. A lot of killing. They were also, he wasn't sure about this next theory, but they were also taking things away from him.

He felt tendrils claw their way into his mind, and he yelled as he felt it wrap around his thoughts; as it wrapped around her. He tried to hold on dearly, but no sooner had he felt it, it was too late.

What was he thinking about again? He couldn't focus over the laughs of the devils outside. He felt his veins burn as the tubes pulsed and pumped something horrible into him. They were starting again, his personal hell had resumed its ministrations and his whole world burned.

He would kill them all, oh yes. It might take an eternity or two of this pain, but when he got out of here, he would kill them all for this.

* * *

><p>Shepard slowly opened his eyes, and he was met with a bright, blinding white light. The whole world was still ringing for him. Grunting, he closed his eyes again and tried to turn away from the light. His neck screeched in protest, sending pain crashing into his body. Gritting his teeth, he settled on just keeping his eyes closed for a little while longer. Slowly, he began to notice tingling sensations across his body. He cursed inwardly as he realized whatever happened to him, the shock must be wearing off.<p>

That didn't make the pain any more bearable.

His entire body sung a crescendo of hurt, but none higher than his torso. He tried to wrap his arm around it, but he found that he was unable to move. Whatever happened to him hit him bad. He felt relieved when he felt his hand wipe the sweat off his brow. He told it to stop but he just kept on doing it. It was when it cupped his cheek did he realize it wasn't his hand. Slowly, he opened his eyes. It was the same hazy figure from the dream, the woman whose name started with a T.

"Tali." He said, as the whole world came into focus.

"John?" Tali said in mild surprise. He tried to get up, but Tali gently kept him down with her hands on his chest. "No, no, don't get up! Dr. Chakwas said you have to rest."

"whuh happened?" He asked groggily. "The ship…"

"Your bosh'tet sense of honor happened! Shhh now, John. There is time enough to berate you later…" Tali then turned away. "Doctor!"

Dr. Chakwas came into his field of vision, her voice was collected yet alarmed at the same time. It was probably a military physician thing. "You shouldn't be up yet, Shepard." She was holding a syringe. "For the pain, commander."

Part of him wanted to say no, anything but to sleep again; Anything but those dreams. Too late. He felt a prick on his arm, and the whole world started to go dark again. But she was still there, one hand brushing his brow, the other gently holding his; he smiled, because he had the name to hold on to now.

* * *

><p>Garrus loved the rain. His mother had always told him it was the spirits, falling from the heavens to cleanse a land from its filth and suffering. As a child, he always loved just standing under the falling water, hearing the warcry of the spirits in the thunder and the flash of their blade in the lightning.<p>

It never rained on a space station, though. The filth and suffering would just accumulate, festering and ruining lives like a fetid plague that hung on the populace. The spirits had forsaken this place long ago, which meant someone else had to bring the rain to Omega. And when Garrus decided that someone was him, he made sure it poured.

The station warehouses were massive tombs of metal where cargo and junked scrap lay side by side, often spanning a mile. This particular one was derelict and dark, loud generators drowning out sounds with their howls and wails, with dim light distributed far from each other like isolated islands. High above, a network of catwalks over looked the entire warehouse. Right smack in the center of these catwalks hung a huge, heavily fortified room, which was probably the main base of the people he was looking for. Garrus grinned as he scouted the area with the night vision filter of his visor; the Eclipse must be getting lax in his absence due to how easily he found this base. All he had to do was bug a couple of comms and knock a few heads and voila, he was suddenly in a red sand lab.

He lay low, as he silently sprinted from cover to cover, keeping to the shadows of the dark warehouse. He had told the others that his squad would continue scouting as the rest of them retreated to the Normandy with Shepard in tow. He would be lying, of course, if he said that it wasn't a convenient excuse to operate without the commander over his shoulder. It all seemed a lifetime ago by now; Archangel, scourge of the underworld, protector in the dark. Not that he enjoyed the nickname, he told himself.

It was funny, he thought. He wasn't even from Omega. He didn't know anybody here. And to be quite frank, he was the one giving the mercs a reason to grudge on him. Why did he ever get this idea again? Protecting some shit-hole station in the middle of nowhere, bet his mama would be proud.

When Shepard had died, he felt so useless. He didn't even see the man on his way to the escape pods that fateful day. He left unscathed when the man he swore to follow into the gates of hell itself burned. Was it penance then? No. That same man, who cheated death itself, had come to him and gave him a second chance; He had his retribution. Still, why did he feel so moved to protect this place?

He'd never admit it, but he undertook the mission of saving Omega because of something Shepard taught him. He did these things, on a world not his, because it was the right thing to do and nobody else would bother.

Shepard was now injured thanks to some thug whom he had left unchecked. It went without saying that it didn't sit well with him. The Blood Pack by then had been left with a power vacuum, and would take a while before being reorganized enough to capitalize on the Cerberus bounty that Aria had said was coming. This gave him an idea that led to this particular operation.

He slipped past a patrol of enemies and dove into the shadows again. Eclipse mercs stuck out like a sore thumb in the otherwise dark surroundings in the shiny yellow armor they wore, never mind the lights they carried. He crept slowly in the dark, feeling his way through with a hand on the walls. His vision adjusted and he found what he was looking for. A ladder leading to the cat walks high above. "Garrus here, so far so good." He said as he slowly climbed his way up. "How're things over at your end?"

"Legion just hacked into their comm frequencies," Kasumi's voice piped up, "Give me a minute to set up."

"Copy that."

Somewhere in the vicinity, Kasumi and Legion had occupied a trailer, where the master thief has set up a mini HQ as it were. Her modified omni tool projected a holo interface of a map of the warehouse, as well as Garrus position. "So exactly why are we here again?" she asked, all the while practically burning through encryption codes.

"Just some pro-active recon, nothing too flashy." He said, holding still as he saw the beacon of a flashlight move dangerously close. He felt his stomach tighten as it inched closer, then relax as it suddenly bolted into the opposite direction. Looks like things had really been getting sloppy while he was away. "I just need you guys to back me up."

Legion stood in a corner, manipulating a 'liberated' Eclipse communicator. The longer he was at it, the more additional blips appeared on the map, signifying enemy squads, tracking their movements. She grinned, "We're all set up here, Garrus."

"What do you have for me?"

"There are three squads on the ground floor, two squads on the catwalk; one of them nearing you." Sure enough, Garrus only had to look left to see the squad moving in their sphere of light merely 30 meters or so away from him. Kasumi continued, "The main target is in the central office hanging in the middle of the warehouse."

He climbed back down the ladder, a little way enough for him to be under the catwalk. Reaching out, he grabbed onto the edge of it. Slowly, he let go of the ladder and hung from the walkway, then made his way towards the incoming group, dangling from heights that would kill him with a false move. The foot steps grew louder over the howling of the generators beneath them. Garrus peeked up above the railings to see the squad fast approaching.

_Mantis?_ He thought, _Stupid._ _Hardly acceptable in CQC._

Had one of them looked down and to the right a little at this point, they _could've_ seen him straight on.

_Vindicator? No, too flashy. Kills have to be silent, swift. Have to kill them without a sound._

Had they thought of even thought of even swinging the flash light around, he _would've_ been dead.

_I knew I shouldn't think things through. Makes my head hurt._

They were right on top of him at this point, and to be honest, he _should've_ been dead sooner.

All those _should haves, would haves _and_ could haves_ were going to be asked by a few really dead people to themselves shortly.

He pulled himself up the railing, hugging the catwalk floor as the last trooper, a salarian, went past him. He slowly stood up with their backs to him. _Well, guess we go the old fashioned route_. He reached to his hip and pulled out a sleek hunting blade. _I'm more of an 'in-the-moment-kind-of-guy' anyway._

Garrus exhaled just loud enough for the salarian to look over his shoulder. He grabbed one of the horns on his head and jammed the knife right to the hilt into his eye, drawing in close to wrap his other arm around his mouth to muffle the gurgling noise he was making. A twist of the blade and the salarian stopped squirming.

Pulling the knife out, he gently laid the corpse on the metal floor and walked behind the next victim, an asari. The two other mercs in front of her were engaged in conversation. Without hesitation, both hands reached out under her armpits to grab her by the neck, covering her mouth and grabbing her throat. He pulled her in close as he lifted her off the ground so the other mercenaries in front wouldn't hear her thrashing. He closed his eyes and tightened his grip. The blue female was thrashing violently now. A few moments later and the thrashing grew weaker. He held her a little while longer after she had gone limp. Then gently, he laid her slowly to rest on the catwalk. He hated killing females. Reaching for the pistol still holstered on her hip, he shook his head at how she didn't even think of drawing it. Panic can make you forget how many ways you had out of a sticky situation.

The two humans were talking adamantly now, their leader in front of them would no doubt tell them to shut up soon. And even if he did take both of them out at the same time, the sudden silence would still be jarring enough to make the last one turn.

_Sigh, I'm over thinking it again. _

Twirling the knife in the air, he caught it by the blade and flung it between the talking mercs into the back of the leaders head. It hit dead on, burying itself to the hilt. The two mercs suddenly stopped their talking to look at the leader, then swung around, weapons up.

Garrus was upon them even before they could do anything else. He delivered a right cross to the one on his left, catching the merc in the jaw with a sickening crack. Going with the momentum, he spun around and used the pistol in his left hand to whip it across the other's face. It struck him square in the nose, blood running as soon as it made contact. Garrus retrieved the knife from the corpse ahead and proceeded to permanently deal with the two.

The entire thing took less than 3 minutes. Breathing out, it seemed like an eternity. He wiped the blood off the knife on one of the mercs' hair, and then stalked off into the darkness. It was going to be a long and bloody night.


	6. Old Habits

A/N: This was originally part of the previous chapter, but I cut it into two so I could polish this part more. Thanks to Stutch, GoG Toxic and Teenage Wastelander for the words of encouragement. It really helps a lot to know people enjoy my story.

Chapter 5: Old Habits

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><p>The warehouses of Omega were dark and cold places, but it was anything but quiet. The howling of generators tore through the air and echoed into the maze like labyrinth of the tankers and other scrap that littered it. Pipes and vents would often let out hisses of steam that hung like a stale fog in the cold air. Vorcha would usually amass here in numbers, and junkers would often brave the odds of being eaten by the vermin like scavengers in search of valuable salvage. High above, the catwalks were even more perilous; derelict walkways that would give without warning, sending people plummeting to their deaths. Garrus flinched at the thought as he slowly navigated said catwalks in the dark, stalking the second squad of mercs that were still patrolling the catwalks. In the distance, the main warehouse office sat like a spider in the web of the catwalks, suspended high above. Like a castle in the dark, it was bristling with defenses, one way in and one way out. On one side it had a crane, which would usually move the container tanks around, but this one was connected to a platform on one end, probably as a makeshift elevator.<p>

These parts of the station, while still under the reign of Aria T'loak, were considered no-man's lands. You stick your claim to a territory, and so long as you paid the pirate queen her dues, you kept it until someone else stronger kills you for it. It was like a feudal system of sorts; A monarch ruled over his vassals who were free to kill each other so long as it did not affect their dues. Garrus always had an interest in the ancient Turian kingdoms, and he was fascinated at how Earth had a similar concept in something known as the Dark Ages. A lawless time where those in power prospered and the weak and the poor were at their mercy.

His mother would tell him bed time stories of champions who defended the weak from the abuses of the strong. It was then that he decided he would be a defender of justice, becoming a soldier of the fleet and then eventually making it into C-Sec on the Citadel. Of course, it wasn't as ideal as the stories had romanced it. Ideals had no place in a world full of regulations and accountability to superiors, who were at times as crooked as those he was sworn to defend against. It was when Garrus realized that protecting and serving were the last things on his employer's 'to do list' that he decided to do things on his own terms. These days the champions and knights of old had far fewer modern equivalents, but Garrus was adamant that he would make sure there was at least one more. And if he couldn't be the dark knight to Omega's lawless kingdoms, he would be the avenging Archangel who would bring justice. Garrus was snapped from his musings when Kasumi's voice came into his ear piece.

"So Garrus, are you going to let me and Legion in on your little plan here?" she said quietly, "Tell me we're not just out here to kill mercs."

"I didn't think you had a problem with getting your hands dirty, Kasumi." He replied, the second eclipse squad coming into his sights. He crouched low as he advanced. "And no, we're out here for Shepard's sake…" He paused as he pulled out his knife, "Killing mercs is just a bonus."

Indignation was apparent in her voice. "I'm a thief, Vakarian, not a murderer. I kill as a last resort, not for sport."

"Well I'm not exactly having the time of my life out here, Miss Goto." His voice was a hushed whisper as he saw the squad round a corner. He sped up his pace a little to keep up, lightfooted as a turian wearing heavy armor could, not that they'd here anything beyond a gunshot with the generator droning on. "Look, there's a time and a place for this: Not here and not now."

She didn't reply, and after a while of silence, Garrus cut off the link. He didn't enjoy this. He stalked along behind the hapless squad, his blade singing for blood.

The squad walked in a similar formation as the first one he encountered, though he let out a small inner sigh of relief as to how this one lacked females. He twirled the knife in his hand and reached out towards the batarian taking rear guard. No, he didn't enjoy this one bit.

* * *

><p>Kasumi bit her lip as she watched the blip that was Garrus, approach the small group of eclipse blips. Every few seconds, he would approach one of them, and the others would go on. A few seconds after staying together with the eclipse ones, the Garrus blip would leave it and catch up with the rest, eventually leaving a small trail of eclipse blips in his wake. Despite everything she had done to aid Shepard in his mission, she had only killed in self-defense or in the defense of others. Call her a hypocrite if you will, but she was hardly a murderer, or even a vigilante. She was still deciding in her head which one Garrus truly was. She had seen the look in his eyes when he was sniping enemies in battle. It was the same look whenever he was laughing or being relaxed. Should she be afraid of him? In a ship full of people on the edge, he would always be one of the few she would classify as balanced.<p>

She looked over her shoulder to where Legion was fiddling with the communicator. It was a funny thought that she would be more afraid of a turian who was not here with a geth in her immediate vicinity. She looked back at the holo-map once more to find that Garrus had moved on to the last blip. Her eyes widened when she saw the eclipse one started to run away and the Garrus one was the one not moving. "Garrus! Are you alright?" She began with alarm as she started monitor the frequencies for any alarms. She found a distress call from the eclipse merc and jammed it immediately. She turned to Legion and said "Something's wrong, get ready for anything!"

Legion merely nodded and put down the communicator, drawing out his Widow-maker. "Query: Has something happened to Garrus-Comapanion?"

"I don't know, but I think it's bad." she replied, frantically pushing buttons and communicating Garrus again. "Garrus! Come on, don't be dead!"

"I'm fine." Garrus' voice was calm and collected. "On a side-note, I didn't know you cared."

Kasumi sighed, he probably was fine if he still had that smarm in his voice. "What happened?"

"To the merc? Oh, I just let him go."

"Oh." She had to take a few moments to register that, then her eyes grew wider, eyebrows rising in surprise. "Wait, what?"

* * *

><p>Garrus looked on as the merc ran faster than the wind itself, disappearing in the distant darkness. "You should see this guy run, never thought a human could go that fast." He said, whipping out his omnitool, he changed frequencies and he saw Kasumi's incredulous expression.<p>

"Why?" she began frantically, she was half expecting him to have shot the man down while running away, but the blip just kept moving. "I can jam transmissions but word of mouth is another thing."

"I like being spontaneous." Garrus said, sheathing the knife and pulling out his sniper rifle in one hand. His gaze turned towards the office in the distance, an island of light, high above in the catwalks in the otherwise dark warehouse. He saw the merc he had let go run towards the main office. "Besides, I need him for the set up."

"What _set up_?" Kasumi asked, her voice wary.

"Operation: Dark Knight." The merc was halfway there. "I need you and Legion to sit tight and wait for my word."

"Well this isn't sudden at all, Garrus." Kasumi replied in annoyance. "Oh, and 'Operation: Dark Knight'? What?"

"I usually make things up as I go along." He glanced at the merc he had let go again and he was getting close to the office. A few of the guards stationed there had taken notice of their alarmed comrade. "I have to go, I'll keep in touch."

"There'll be words later, Vakarian." Kasumi replied before she cut off the communication on her end.

"Sigh, what was the term Shepard used about me and the ladies?" He asked himself as he unfolded the sniper rifle and aimed down its sights, tracking the running merc. "Ah yes, he always did say that I was a regular Cassanova."

* * *

><p>Winslow James had heard the stories. <em>He<em> was already dead for months now; the story had spread like wildfire on the station when it came out. It took the 3 previous big bosses of the Blood Pack, Eclipse and Blue Suns to do him in, but he was killed then and there. He was supposed to be nothing more than a boogeyman to scare the new recruits with and an example to the rest of Omega. Well he said boogeyman had just massacred his entire squad, except for him. He had disarmed him, painfully he might add, and just stared him down, not saying a word. He didn't know why, but he had to get away from here. He tried raising the alarm on his comm, but he was being jammed.

"No, no, no…" He said as he tried one more time, the same error message popping up. He didn't want to die; he just wanted some quick and easy money. Sure he offed some folks here and there but who cared for some nobodies all the way out here? He looked up and saw he was fast approaching the main office. Fuck it, he'd yell if he had to. "HEY! HE'S HERE!"

His voice must not be carrying over the noise of the generators, he thought, and he ran faster. His lungs ached but he yelled again. "FOR FUCK'S SAKE, HE'S HERE!"

He was waving his arms in the air like a mad man as he yelled, the guards were alerted to his presence and started to congregate on the walkway he was on to meet him. "The hell is wrong with you!" one of the other mercs, a batarian yelled back. The others were looking on in mild amusement. Winslow wasn't held in the highest regard among the mercs, even his own squad didn't show much respect for him, if any at all. "Where are the rest of your squad, and who the fuck is 'here'?"

"ARCHANGEL!" He was nearly there.

The batarian laughed out loud, he was about to berate James when there was a crack in the air, and his head exploded in a shower of gore that splattered over the surrounding guards. There was a moment of stunned silence as the headless body fumbled a bit, before dropping on his knees and falling flat on the metal floor with a thud. The guards started to scramble, but no sooner had they reached for their rifles when a second shot ripped through the air trailing smoke behind it. The concussive round landed right smack in the middle of them. The unlucky ones merely crashed into the metal walls and railings, shattering bone and tearing flesh. The even more unlucky ones were sent over the edge to fall to their deaths. The remaining guards who were still in one piece got into defensive positions and started to unload in the direction the shot came from. The squads on the ground level had noticed the commotion and were scrambling towards the office.

Winslow fell to his knees. They were all going to die tonight.

* * *

><p>Zarrhen Jantar held onto his desk as he felt something shake his office. For a salarian, he was built like a rock and quickly rose as a Captain in the Omega Eclipse for his skill in battle since his recruitment. He always did prefer firefights to drug making, but his intelligence and skill in the field had worked against him. He grinned inwardly as he now got exactly what he wished for. "What is going on out there?" He demanded, getting up and reaching for his rifle on his desk. He cocked it and his armor produced a flickering aura as his shield activated around him.<p>

His 3 lieutenants were all frantically going away at their omnitools. One of them approached him, an asari. "Sir, we're being jamme-" She was cut off as the office shook again, knocking her towards him. He caught her then laid her roughly aside on his desk.

"Damned useless, all of you!" He said, approaching the door, his other two lieutenants made way for him and they all gathered behind him to follow his lead as he marched. The shooting was fierce, but by the time he had approached the door, it had stopped. The door suddenly opened, causing the group to pull up their weapons in preparation for combat. It was a human eclipse who staggered in, one hand desperately wrapped on a gash on his neck that spurted blood as he walked. Jantar merely looked on. "Well? What the hell is happening out there?"

"Ar- Ar-…" he gurgled as he started to choke on his own blood. He staggered a few steps forward, towards the captain. "Arch-…"

Jantar grew impatient and swatted the dying man aside, but he had heard enough. There were whispers behind him; apparently his underlings had caught on too. One of them, a salarian spoke cautiously. "He was dying sir, probably just delusional with blood loss."

"I recognize him, Winslow James, not the sharpest knife in the drawer." The asari chimed in, "Filnar's right, it can't possibly be him"

The third one, a human, spoke, "Yeah, he was-"

"Enough!" Jantar said, turning to them in fury, but what scared them most was his manic smile. "It doesn't change the fact we're under attack." He turned to face the door and waved his omnitool, disabling the lock so anyone could come in. "We go out there, we'd be playing into his hands." He began, walking back to his desk and flipping it over, creating cover of sorts. The office was spacious, littered with tables and drug making equipment, with one way in and out. His underlings began flipping over tables and desks as well, knocking over equipment and creating formidable defensive positions.

Jantar picked up some gas canisters and a few bottles of chemicals, spreading it in the area in front of the door. Taking position, they trained their guns at the door waiting for anybody arrogant enough to walk through. A pull of the trigger and the bastard would be set ablaze in a chemical fire. They would shortly spray the corpse down with the fire extinguishers and see if the dead man was hallucinating or not. If it was, he'd land a hell of a promotion.

Seconds seemed to stretch for an eternity as they trained their guns on the door. The human swallowed audibly and the salarian was shaking slightly. The asari, for her credit, was only whispering something under her breath; probably a prayer. Jantar grunted as he switched to incendiary rounds.

A few agonizing moments later and everything was still quiet. The human lowered his guard and said, "Maybe they already took him-" He hadn't finish his sentence as the grill of the vent above them fell down, along with a grenade right next to him. "-out?"

"TAKE COVER!" Jantar roared as he ducked behind his desk. There was a loud bang as the air ripped, sending smoke, debris and gore scattering everywhere.

* * *

><p>Garrus jumped down from the vent shaft, landing in the smoke as he quickly took in his surroundings. The squishy sensation under his step told him he got one or two of the bastards with the grenade. Rifle at the ready, he spotted a shell-shocked salarian stagger out of the smoke, and he filled him full of thermal rounds. The salarian's shields fizzled and the corpse dropped. Garrus then heard shots and felt them whizz by his head. He dove behind one of the desks and reloaded his gun as the thermal rounds tore away at the desk.<em> Looks like they were setting up a surprise party for me,<em> he thought as the smoke cleared and he saw the layout of the room. He peeked out from cover and quickly drew back his head as shots started to pepper the desk. He raised his rifle and blindly fired back towards the general direction of the mercs. He heard a crackling sound and realized the desk was starting to catch fire_. Inferno rounds, brilliant._

Dashing from his position, he slid behind another desk as a few shots crashed against his shields. Pulling up from cover, he searched for a target and fired back with a few bursts when he saw the asari lift her head a couple of tables away. She ducked, narrowly avoiding his shots and another merc, a salarian, popped out of cover on the far side and began spraying cover fire for his comrade. Garrus felt the heat of the thermal rounds as they flew past him, ducking into cover. He heard a small boom as they hit the gas canisters in front of the door, igniting the chemicals into a purple flame.

"Nowhere to run, 'Archangel'!" Jantar yelled, laughing psychotically and again shooting the desk that the turian was hiding behind. It slowly started to catch fire. "Your resurrection will be shortlived!"

Garrus smirked behind his cover and reloaded his rifle. _Looks like this one is a talker_, he thought. It was two against one, both his opponents seemed pretty capable, and his cover was about to become useless again. He needed to move. He raised his rifle to blind fire again, but he cringed as he felt it got shot out of his hand, going up in sparks a few feet from him. "Oh for the spirits' sake..." Taking in a deep breath, he waited for the tell-tale click of an empty clip and jumped over the flaming desk, fire licking at his shields.

The asari came out from cover to shoot suppressive fire as Jantar reloaded, training her sights on Garrus.

Landing with a roll, Garrus pulled out the sniper rifle from behind him with his left hand and unfolded it with a shake. He got to his feet and trained the Mantis onto the asari, who was also about to squeeze the trigger on her rifle.

Time seemed to stand still as the two met eyes. Hers was filled with murder while his was almost sorrowful. He pulled the trigger a split second before she did, catching her square in the chest with a concussive round that sent her flying into the wall, crashing into a crumpled heap.

He had barely recovered from the recoil when suddenly, Jantar jumped over his desk, rifle at the ready, and ran towards Garrus, blasting away with gunfire and obscenities.

Garrus was caught by surprise, the barrage going past his shields and catching his right arm on fire. He yelled in agony as the Mantis started to fizzle in flames and dropped it. The salarian was quicker than he looked, striking him with the rifle butt and knocking him down to one knee. He looked up and saw that grin plastered onto Jantar's face.

"You're one ugly son of a bitch, Archangel." Jantar said, flames roaring in the background, rifle trained between Garrus' eyes. "The name is Zarrhen Jantar, and killing you will cement my reputation forever."

Garrus only grinned back, he had banked on Jantar's mouth buying him a few seconds to recover. Without warning, he bolted up, arms snaking around the rifle and twisting it aside before the merc could pull the trigger. They wrestled for the rifle as it fired shots everywhere, each trying to leverage it over the other. The whole room was starting to catch on fire now as the inferno rounds ignited all that it touched. A few moments later it started to click on empty. The two looked at the rifle, then back at each other, then Garrus pulled his head back and head butted the salarian.

Jantar was dazed, loosening his grip on the gun, allowing Garrus to yank it from him and kick him away. He got up, as he saw the turian hasten to reload the weapon.

Just as Garrus had reloaded the rifle, Jantar tackled him to the ground. The salarian was strong for his size. They rolled around the floor for a bit, each grabbing onto the gun with an ironclad grip. Jantar rolled onto his back, and wedged his foot between himself and Garrus, kicking him off with all his might.

Garrus flew backwards, stumbling onto his ass as Jantar got up with a victorious look on his face. No words this time, and he pulled the trigger.

_Click._

A quizzical look came onto his face, wiping the grin from it as he pulled the trigger again.

_Click._

_Click._

"Hey, lose something?" Garrus said as he picked himself up and held a thermal clip in one hand. He smirked as he saw the dawn of realization on Jantar's face and threw the clip into the fire. Jantar quickly reached for his ammo clips, and to his amazement, he was out. He looked at Garrus with disbelief when the turian produced a handful of clips in his other hand. Without a word, he threw the rest in with the other one.

Jantar scowled, then a smirk crept to his face as he tossed the rifle aside. He had never felt so alive before! "I have to say, Archangel, you are everything the stories say about you and more." He looked around to see that they were surrounded by flames now, the perfect arena for his ultimate victory. "Splendid! Just splendid!"

"I'm flattered but I don't swing that way." Garrus replied as he pulled out his knife.

"Heh.. Heh… Well then maybe you could swing some other way for me." Jantar replied as he reached behind him and pulled out twin combat knives. "Preferably by your neck."

"Now there's an idea." Garrus said, getting into combat position. Jantar did the same and they slowly started to circle each other. "But I think that would suit you much better."


	7. Old Habits part 2

**A/N: **How're you all doing? By God that was a helluva couple of weeks, let me tell you. Stuff went down, got writers block, more stuff went down, hedgehog impaling my hand, regular stuff really. I feel that this was both rushed and delayed, and I'm not quite satisfied with how I wrote it, so any feed back on how I can improve would be welcome! So where were we...

* * *

><p>Chapter 6:<p>

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy was kneeling on one knee as she installed the new command console for the cargo deck. She heaved and grunted as she tried to secure a nut onto the new console unit's stand, bolting the device into the floor of the hold.

The Torvias Brother's Shipyard was just about as respectable as any other on the docks of Omega. Not saying that that was a good thing, of course. Fortunately for the crew of the Normandy, the proprietor, a vrolik named Ban'Torvias, owed Garrus a favor after the Turian saved his two sons from certain death at the hands of Batarian pirates a little while back. "Yes, yes, these are the lowest prices I can afford!" The vrolik had said excitedly, waddling alongside Tali after the ship had just docked. "Any friend of Archangel is a friend of Ban'Torvias!" He was friendly enough at first, but Tali shuddered as she recalled herself realizing he had been hitting on her the whole time.

After some trouble convincing him that his workers were not necessary for the deal, she hurriedly excused herself and ignored the penetrating glances he was casting at her. Since then, she and the rest of the crew had been spending the last 40-something hours hard at work on repairs. All around her were crates of newly shipped equipment being hustled upon by her engineering staff.

And by new, she meant second hand.

And by second hand, the seller meant mostly legitimate.

_The Normandy deserves better than this._ She took a lot of pride in the ship; it was as much a member of the crew as any of them were. But still, she conceded, it was decent enough to get the Normandy flight worthy again. Not to mention, with a little fine tuning and reprogramming, it would allow the Normandy to function even better than before. That is, if they could physically install the new parts first.

"Come on, you stubborn little bosh'tet…" she muttered as she pulled on the wrench with both hands, leaning backwards to gain leverage. Tali cheered inwardly as she felt the satisfying smooth twist of the nut finally locking into place.

Levels 4 and 5 were the places that the occulus had done a number on during the suicide mission. Wrecking a lot of the infrastructures during the ensuing firefight, it was a damn fine mess to clean up. The whole 'getting hit by enemy fire and crashing onto the Collector base' was merely icing on the cake. All around her, the engineers milled about welding, soldering and calibrating the entire level.

Several of the male staff had offered to do the 'drudge work' for her, but she had politely declined their aid. She was a quarian engineer, and she wasn't about to let her pride be tarnished by some stubborn little nuts. Picking up another one from the small pile next to her, she twisted it in one of the holes on the stand into the floor until it was too tight to do by hand. Giving the wrench a playful twirl, she slapped it on and started twisting again. Her newly acquired good mood slowly started to deteriorate as the nut, like it's brethren before it, started to rebel.

Tali didn't mind though, she needed this. She needed something to keep her mind and body occupied. Anything, just so her thoughts didn't all revolve around him.

Right now, Shepard was lying unconscious on this same ship, just a level above her. When he was carried back by Grunt late last night, he was bleeding and his armor was all but wrecked. Seeing him like that, it was like her world crumbled all around her. She stayed by his side all throughout last night, not getting any sleep herself, just watching over him. It was a painful thing to see, and she wanted to stay with him now, but she knew that the sooner they left this place, the better. Getting the Normandy space worthy again was the best thing she could do to help him.

But keelah, why did she feel so powerless right now? So… worthless?

She stuck her foot against the wall and leaned back, pulling on the wrench with both hands. It gave, but only just a little bit. She gave the console a small shake and it was still unstable.

"COME ON!" She roared, causing several nearby crewmen to look at her with in surprise. "Oh, um, I… Get back to work!" She said loudly after an awkward start, mostly out of embarrassment than annoyance. The men were startled and started to disperse in panic, then she yelled again, stopping them in their tracks. "Wait! Sorry! Sorry… I was just… I mean, um… Nothing to see here… Yes… Please return to your assigned tasks." The onlookers all looked at one another a little bit before shrugging, dispersing in a less urgent fashion. Tali took a deep breath as she turned back to the console and slapped a palm to her visor, blushing in embarassment. _Smooth, Tali'Zorah, smooth. _She sighed deeply as she plopped both her hands down on the floor and sat there for a moment, staring at the wall. Her ear twitched as she heard a familiar pair of voices bickering.

"I'm just saying," Kenneth started, gesturing his hand across the room. "This is a rare opportunity to recalibrate the power output up by another 50%. It's not every day that we get to do a major overhaul like this."

"What for?" Her tone was strained, almost pleading. "The hold has been functioning in optimum capacity anyway, what's another 50% going to do? Make it so we can put up permanent Christmas lights?" She retorted, pulling out a datapad to show her calculations. "Besides the power would have too little routes to be vented through when it does overload."

"Why must you be so afraid of progress, Gabby?" He said despairingly.

"_Progress _doesn't involve the risk of mass electrocution!" She replied, smacking his head lightly with the data-pad.

"Well really now? Let's see what the chief has to say about that…" He replied, turning towards Tali and raising his voice. Tali sighed, as if the entire level wasn't already hearing him in his 'speaking' voice. "Oi! Tali! We need your judgment in solving a case of dire importance between us!"

"I suggest you take it to your quarters!" Tali yelled back playfully, much to Ken and Gabby's chagrin and the jeering of those around them.

"Hey!" Gabby yelled indignantly.

"Fine, be like that!" Ken continued, and then he turned to Gabby. "I still say we should do it."

Tali merely shook her head, smiling bitter-sweetly underneath her mask as the two once more settled for bickering with each other. Everyone on the ship practically knew how those two were perfect for each other. Well, everyone except Gabby and Ken. Her thoughts wandered to how Shepard was doing up in the med-bay…

_No, no, no!_ she chided herself, shaking her head with each no. She needed to keep herself occupied. Shepard was stable when she left him. He was under the care of not one, but two brilliant doctors; Three really, if you counted Miranda. She grabbed the wrench and proceeded to deal with the problem at hand, finding the nut much more agreeable than a few moments ago.

A few twists later and it was all set up. Putting the wrench aside, she tore off the plastic wrap still around the new console and booted it up, calibrating it onto the ship's own systems. Tali put her hands on her hips and let out a deep breath. "Keelah, John…" She said to herself, "I knew things would be hard, but it's not making it easier to pick up the pieces of yourself afterwards."

She dearly wanted to be with him. She felt her feet begin to walk towards the elevator, no doubt to head towards the 3rd level to be by his side. She made it as far as a few steps before stopping herself and stamping angrily on the floor.

Moping by his side was a sure fire way of not getting anything done right on this ship. She was needed down here, where she could help Shepard best. But by_ keelah _she couldn't just keep that _bosh'tet_ of a man out of her mind.

_That sweet, wonderful, caring, overly idealistic man. _

It was that part of Shepard that made her fall in love with him most: The man brave enough to hold his ideals over harsh reality. It was also the reason why he would put himself in danger most of the time. But no matter the cause, the weight of the known galaxy couldn't just rest on the shoulders of one man.

Looking around, she brought up her omnitool to check the status of the various repair teams. She scrolled through the various things on the to-do list and looked for the most tedious and difficult task still underway. She needed to get her head back in the game and not up in the air like a damned teenager.

_But,_ her thoughts innocently began, _maybe there was another way I could protect him?_ She nursed the thought as she headed towards the elevator. The door opened, and she was startled out of her thoughts as Zaeed almost bumped into her. "Oh! Zaeed, I'm sorry, I was just…"

"Easy now, no harm done." Came his cool reply as he stepped aside and let her in. "Going down?"

Honestly, she didn't know what to think of the man. He was stern and blunt, but at the same time loud and boisterous. "Thank you, Zaeed." Was her reply as her hand went to press the button of the level she was going to.

"So formal." He said suddenly, making her freeze in her tracks. He just grinned at her. Zaeed had somewhat taken the lead while Shepard was incapacitated, even though the position officially fell to Miranda. Tali suspected that the other woman wasn't taking this usurpation slightly. "I don't suppose it's any of my business really, but..."

Tali cocked her head to the side, expectantly, but Zaeed just left it at that. Hesitantly, she said "But what?"

"You look like hell."

"Excuse me?" She said indignantly. He couldn't even see her face.

"It's the body language, see?" He said, turning to her, as if he had read her mind. "You're usually perkier than this, have you had any sleep since we brought Shepard on board?"

"I'm fine."

"And now you're lying to me, Miss Zorah."

"Look, _I'm fine_, Zaeed." She said heatedly.

"And now you're agitated, sure signs of exhaustion."

Her mouth was hanging open as she stared at him indignantly, looking for the right words to counter back. She dug and dug and dug, and suddenly, she felt tears welling up in her eyes. She slumped back down against the side of the lift and dropped to the floor, sobbing. "I've seen Shepard in these kinds of situations before." she began, between sobs, "Keelah, I even saw him die!"

Zaeed hit the emergency stop on the lift, sealing the doors, then sat down on the floor opposite to her.

Tali continued, "But this... Keelah Zaeed, It tears me up knowing that he'll keep doing this and one day his luck will run out!" She was close to hysterical. "And I... I can't even protect him. Not from himself."

"Oh I don't know about that..." Zaeed offered, softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well... You _are_ a quarian, right?"

* * *

><p>Though in possession of two left feet, as Shepard had once said, the dance of death was one performance that Garrus excelled at. It was an art that did not leave much room for those who do it poorly to have a second chance. Unfortunately for Garrus, his current dance partner was also an artisan in the dealing of swift death. They had been at it for a while now, blades flashing in the fire. Each of their strikes were surgical and precise, the defenses and the last second parries more so.<p>

"Too slow." Garrus said as he dodged to the left and retaliated with a strike of his own, causing the Salarian to back off, narrowly missing the blade. Garrus followed up the attack with a punch from his off-hand. As he had hope for, it was easily blocked by the salarian, giving Garrus the opening he needed to raise his leg and kick the eclipse merc hard in the chest, creating some space between them. "Way too slow."

Jantar sneered as he regained his footing, this Archangel was proving to be quite the competent hand-to-hand fighter, but he was no push over himself. "Well fuck you, too." He said as he ran forward, blades to his side. Garrus stepped back and drew the blade towards Jantar, but the salarian ducked into a roll towards his flank, dodging the blade which stabbed into air.

Garrus cursed as he turned to compensate but his flank was left wide open to Jantars knife. The blade wedged past his armor and through his chitinous hide, tearing through the flesh in his side. Bringing up an elbow, he struck the salarian hard in the head, knocking him back and dislodging the blade in the process. Turning around, he swung his knife wildly, catching the stunned slarian in the chest and cutting through his armor in a shower of sparks, but failing to draw blood. He staggered backwards, arm covering the gash on his side, blood running freely. He had run out of omni-gel ages ago, and the bleeding showed no signs of letting. He cringed as he pressed his hand harder against the wound, hoping to stave off the inevitable for a little while longer.

"What's the matter, Archangel?" Jantar said, as he stepped back, giving the blades a twirl in each hand. He ran towards him again, arms drawn back across his chest, and slashed furiously at Garrus, who could only just barely defend. "Where's your talk now?"

The flames were roaring now, and Garrus' lungs were starving for air and his side cried in pain. He hopped back as Jantar began a barrage of thrusts with his knives, each strike aiming for his vital points. Twirling the knife in his own hand, Garrus parried them in a wave of motion. Twisting in place, his center of gravity suddenly shifted towards the salarian and he went past his knives to deliver a solid punch to the face with his off hand. It caught Jantar unawares in the jaw and sent him stumbling back a few feet and onto the floor. Not wasting a moment, Garrus lunged through the air after him, blade held up high, ready to pierce Jantar's heart.

The salarian shook off the cobwebs in his head and raised both his legs, meeting Garrus' lunge with both his boots to the gut, sending the turian vigilante backwards and giving himself enough time to recover. With a heave, he sprung back onto his feet and flexed his shoulders, raising both knives in front of him. "Not bad, for a turian." Jantar mocked as he approached Garrus.

"I do _try_ to liven things up." Garrus replied, getting back on his feet, knife pointed towards the approaching Eclipse captain. His gaze drifted towards their surroundings. A large part of the room was now covered in flames. The door and the vent he popped out of were practically impossible to reach at this point, and his options of exits were steadily declining the longer the fight took place. He clutched his side tighter, all this action making his wound worse, that kick to the gut making the bleeding more profuse.

He shifted his footing. He would have to end it in the next strike.

Their eyes met and no more words were said. Jantar broke into a run and slashed the blades wildly. Garrus deflected each strike of the assault with his own knife, falling back as Jantar's attacks seemed to come from all directions. Garrus' eyes darted around, looking for an opening in the flurry of knives. No such luck; Jantar's defenses were as tight as his offense. He felt the heat rise behind him and he knew he was being slowly backed into the flames. He needed an opening, and by the spirits if it didn't present itself, he'd have to make his own. The heat was stinging him now. It was now or never.

It happened so suddenly, and Garrus cringed as he felt the bite of cold steel in his flesh again. He was stabbed, but his mandibles twisted into a victorious grin. Garrus' right fist was clenched as he tightened his grip onto Jantar's left hand, the salarian's blade going through his palm and out the other side. In the span of the same second, his free hand, blade and all, rushed into Jantar's right shoulder.

He buried it into the hilt and twisted, dislocating the salarian's arm with a sickening pop, causing it to fall limply to the side, knife dropping to the floor. Jantar yelled in agony as Garrus pulled it out and swiftly began stabbing the salarian in the liver, heart and both lungs.

Jantar's knees were buckling, the sheer shock of it all, as well as Garrus' grip, being the only things that kept him standing. His yell of pain became a sickly gurgle as his lungs filled up with blood, bubbling out of his mouth in crimson foam.

With a groan of pain, he unceremoniously kicked the dying salarian into the fires, instantly consuming him. The heat was intense now, and Garrus found himself slumping against a wall, his vision blurring as the blood loss took its toll. He always knew his life style of gun slinging and merc-killing would catch up to him, but never like this. All the while, his communicator had been flashing non-stop to an incoming transmission. "Garrus here…" he answered weakly. Kasumi's voice was urgent with worry.

"Garrus! Thank God… That place is on fire!"

"I noticed."

"Well get the hell out of there!"

"Would love to," he replied weakly, leaning his head against the wall, "but I think it's too late for me."

"What are you talking about?"

"Tell Shepard I tried to take care of our problem…" It was starting to fade to black now. "You guys get out of here, Garrus out."

* * *

><p>Kasumi stood there in the shadows, mouth hanging open as the comm-link disconnected. "He hung up on me." She started, baffled and confused. Her brow suddenly furrowed in anger and frustration. "The cheeky bastard actually hung up on me!" Legion was crouched beside her, eyeing the burning office through the scope of his rifle. They were both on the ground level, the building burning high above them, all the while dodging what remained of the eclipse mercs that scurried about panicking.<p>

"It would appear that all routes of entry or exit have been blocked. Sprinkler systems have long been disable and unoperational." Legion began as he scoped the place out. "I cannot compute any favorable outcome to this scenario."

Kasumi rubbed her temples, deep in thought. Hell no was she going to be the one to explain to Shepard what the fuck just happened here. No, no, no. Garrus _did not_ just put her in this situation. That bastard will not die today, not until she's through with him, at least. "Legion, lend me your rifle." She said urgently.

"Affirmative."

She looked through the scope and scanned the office. What Legion said was true; all conventional points of entry and exit were blocked. It was conceivably impossible to get to Garrus in time before the fires consumed him. Fortunately, impossible odds were her forte. She didn't become the best thief in the galaxy if she'd let a blazing fire and good judgment stop her. Her eyes fell towards the crane. Shoving the rifle back to legion, she flipped out her omnitool and scanned the office for Garrus' location. It took a second, but it finally gave her a lock on. "Legion, I need you to hack into that crane for me!"

"It is beyond my signal strength to influe-" He began, but was cut off by Kasumi's voice. Emotion was still a foreign thing to the geth, but after its stint with the crew of the Normandy, it could gather its nature, if not understand it. Kasumi's eyes looked at him pleadingly.

"Please Legion…" she began, "I need you to try."

"Very well. I will need to get closer."

"So do I." She said, suddenly disappearing from sight as her cloak activated. Kasumi ran out of cover, bolting out of the shadows and across a wide clear area, slipping past several mercs who were gawking at the burning structure. She sprinted towards one of the cargo trailers and ran up its side, her inertia allowing her to defy gravity. Once on top, she ran and hopped across the trailers, making her way towards the crane, whose hook was fairly above ground level. "Legion!" She said between breaths. "What… What's your status!"

"Negative." Legion replied as he slinked from cover to cover, rifle at the ready should his presence be made known. He brought it up and ran for the next spot, still unnoticed by the growing crowd of Eclipse. "I will attempt again."

Kasumi clicked her tongue in annoyance as she leapt across the gap to another trailer. She landed in a roll and smoothly got up, not losing speed in the slightest. She was hopping over a mountain of scrap now, taking a longer route to avoid running into the bulk of the Eclipse. There was a loud rumbling noise and a portion of the office exploded, sending fiery debris to crash down on those dumb enough to stand below it. Her eyes jumped to her omnitool and she was relieved to see that it was the was on the far side from where Garrus was lying still. "Jeez Louis Legion, how about now?"

"Negative."

"No pressure." She replied, her cloak flickering as the energy drained. "It's not like lives depend on it or anything like that!" She was running out of ground fast, and the winch lay almost ten feet away across the edge of the trailer. She only had one shot at this. With a last second push of strength, she leapt high into the air off the edge of the trailer, cloak deactivating as she desperately reached out for the cable. "Anytime soon would be nice!"

There was no response.

"Legion!" Time seemed to slow down as her feet left the ground and her outstretched hand sought the cable. She wasn't going to make it, she thought to herself. She always wanted to die of old age living in comfort, not in some cesspool of a space station while she was still young and beautiful. I guess she could add that to the list of things she'd berate Garrus with when they saw each other in the afterlife. All those paintings and works of art she would never have the pleasure of acquiring. Not only that, but there was still something more troubling than that; She still needed to talk to Jacob about, well, about what _didn't_ happen that night they had a drink. Her gut wrenched at the thought, more so than it already had. She was losing her momentum, and the winch cable of the crane was still far from reach.

_Damn it, Garrus, I can't die yet! _She thought annoyed. At least she would see Keiji again.

Suddenly, the winch cable drew closer, and she barely had enough time to process the thought as her hand instinctively wrapped around it in a white knuckle grip. She swung like an erratic pendulum as both her hands held tight, trying to hold on. Her mind was on autopilot as she swung to and fro, not registering what just happened. A monotone voice brought her back to reality, and Kasumi let out a sigh of relief.

"I have assumed control of the crane."

"Legion, I could just kiss you right now!" She said, smiling ear to ear as she steadied herself.

"Be advised, your presence has been made known to hostile elements."

"Uh-huh…"she replied realizing she wasn't cloaked anymore, her smile fading as her attention drifted to the mercs who were starting to gather below her. "Oh, hey! Don't mind me, I just took a wrong turn on the last dank, sleazy alley way."

"Who the fuck are you?" A human merc said as over a dozen rifles were training their sights on her. He raised his pistol towards her, scrutinizing the thief. "Are you the one responsible for this disaster?"

"Steady boys, here, let me show you some ID…" She said as she stood on the hook of the winch, one hand wrapped around the cable and the other slowly reaching for something in her pack. She flung the flash grenade in the center of the group and turned away as white light enveloped the surroundings. "Take me up, Legion!"

"Affirmative."

Leaning back as the cable shot upwards, she secured the back of her knees on the hook and hung upside down, looking down at the mercs who were still stunned by the blinding light. Drawing her sub machine gun in one hand and her pistol in the other, she spun around and pulled the triggers, raining swift death on several of them. It didn't take long before the rest panicked and blindly ran for cover, firing blindly up into the air.

The shots whizzed harmlessly past her as she continued to ascend high up towards the burning office. Flipping around with ease, she was now hanging on to the hook with her hands, her body coiling like a spring, waiting for the inevitable. The cable suddenly stopped, and at the speed it was going, it snapped Kasumi high up into the rafters. With the grace of an acrobat, she flipped twice in the air, landing neatly onto the roof of the office. Luckily, her shields held as the heat swallowed her. She looked to her left, then to her right, eyes looking for… something? "Shoot, I didn't think this part through."


	8. Old Habits Die Hard

A/N: Okay, so I have just realized I kept writing Legion referring to himself (itself?) as I when it was supposed to be 'we'. Golly, How embarrassing. =o

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Old Habits Die Hard<p>

Kasumi chewed on her lip as she tried to think of what to do next. It was proving to be a difficult task what with the crackling of a chemical blaze right next to her. Her mind went over Legion's earleier analysis: Entry and exit points all blocked, no way to extinguish the blaze, no chance of a happy ending. She didn't need a happy ending though, she just needed to get Garrus out of there. The question was how? More importantly, was he still even alive?

She gritted her teeth in frustration. They were only supposed to do recon. Recon! The kind of recon that didn't involve a lot of bullets flying in the air. That bastard! Now, now she had to…. Had to… Kasumi let out a deep breath as she composed herself. Now's not a time for a nervous breakdown. She needed a way in, and by god she didn't care if it wasn't subtle.

"Wait." She said to herself, as a light bulb flashed in her mind. "Legion!" She said urgently, whipping out her omnitool, "Legion, come in!" Her eyes drifted towards the crane. "I have a plan."

"You have my full attention."

"Well listen up…"

* * *

><p>It was… peaceful, Garrus thought. The quiet was a welcome change of pace. He was lying down against a ruined wall under the skies of palaven, on a grassy gnoll that overlooked the plains. He tried to get up, but he found it strange, to say the least. His body felt different somehow; stiffer, but lighter at the same time if that made any sense. His thoughts were cut short as he heard a soft rumble in the distance, like looming thunder. He tried to think back as to what he was doing before he got to this place, but it was fuzzy. Still, the rumbling came again, louder this time, and he felt shockwaves go through his body. His eyes wandered towards his side, as if he had to remember something about it.<p>

There was another rumble, and the whole place shook again. But this time, his surroundings started to blur.

Again, the rumbling was gathering a violent pace as the skies cracked and the plains started to catch fire.

He sighed, looking up at the nightmarish clouds. "This is a dream, isn't it?" He looked back down to his side and found it stained with his blood. "And I'm starting to remember how much reality sucks."

Garrus groaned as he was greeted by the heat and pain, lids heavy and mouth dry. He had lost a substantial amount of blood, enough to make him delirious but just short of killing him.

Well, killing him outright, anyway. His death was going to be long, painful and excruciating. The blood loss was letting him off easier than he had hoped, but the fire was threatening to cook him alive in his armor as it is. He laughed, just a quiet resignation to his fate. With any luck, the Eclipse would still fear he was alive. That would be one mess out of Shepard's hair for a little while, he thought. If not, life was just being hilarious again. He was broken from his musings as the entire building shook violently. He shot a glance to his right and saw the wall there had been bent inwards, as if something huge was punching it from the outside.

* * *

><p>Kasumi held on tightly as she stood atop the large cargo crate that the crane had picked up, using it like a wrecking ball against the side of the building. Gun fire shot up from below as the Eclipse mercs took their pot shots, narrowly missing her by a hair's breadth at times. "Just a little more, Legion!" she said as the metal wall started to crumple with each passing strike. She leaned over the edge, one hand grasping the cable, taking a few pot shots right back at her assailants. She drew back just in time to hold on with all her strength as the huge cargo crate crashed into the side of the office again.<p>

The crate drew back, and the high pitched whine of metal crumbling and tearing apart filled the air. Little bits and pieces started to fall first, mostly those knocked loose by the constant assault. The sound grew louder, like a dying beast bellowing, and then the section of the wall fell down, fire erupting from the newly made hole. Kasumi shielded here face from the flames. Panic gripped her, was she too late? The flames settled, and there he was, slumped against a wall, lying in a pool of blood. "I have a visual, bring me in slowly!" The crane moved to position the crate alongside the hole and Kasumi hopped through, landing gracefully a few feet from him. "Garrus!" she said, rushing swiftly to his side. "Hold on, I have omnigel."

She ran a hand over his wound and the viscous gel sprayed over it. It seeped into the gash and Garrus cringed as it stung. "Kasumi?" He said, weakly, coming out of his delirium. He let out a groan as she administered the same treatment to the wound in his hand. He could feel the effects almost immediately, and tried to stand up. His knees wobbled, and he had to have one hand against the wall just to support himself. "You should've just run, you know?"

"And you should've pulled your head out of your ass." She shot back heatedly, walking to his side to put one arm over her shoulders. Garrus went along with it and they shuffled towards the hole where the crate lay beyond. "Of all the pig-headed, stupid, reckless things I have seen…" She said, heaving him along, petite legs straining from his weight, "You, Garrus, most definitely take the proverbial cake."

"I did what I had to do."

"Am I supposed to be impressed by the 'brooding-and-mysterious' act?"

Garrus was quiet, and they walked the rest of the way with nothing more being said. The gap that separated the crate and the floor was a small one, and Garrus hopped across it without much difficulty, though the landing made his wound twist in pain. Kasumi followed after him, grabbing onto the back of his armor as well as the cable to steady him. And no sooner than she had stepped on, the fires suddenly blazed higher, making the facility shake.

"In think we should go." She said as she sent a message to Legion.

"Yes, let's. Going is good." Garrus replied, watching the spot he was just on get covered in fiery debris.

The crane swiftly drew away from the building as Garrus and Kasumi grabbed tightly onto the cable, bracing themselves as the crate they stood on swung slightly. The flames rumbled and crackled, blazing purple as it fully consumed the office.

Garrus was about to say something, when he heard the pitter-patter of bullets ricocheting off metal. He peeked over the side and drew his head back as several shots whizzed past him. He turned to Kasumi, his best poker face on. "I think we're being shot at."

"Really?" She replied, cocking an eyebrow and drawing out her sub machine gun. "No wonder I felt so compelled to rescue you." She leaned over the side and fired back at the Eclipse. "Your ability to point out the obvious is proving invaluable so far."

"You think this is something?" He said, reaching behind her waist and borrowing her pistol, "You should see my other tricks."

"Hey!" She said in protest to his swiping of her gun as he leaned over the side himself and picked out several mercs. Kasumi's gaze drifted towards his bloody armor "What happened to you in there anyway?"

"Some punk got lucky and stuck me with a knife." He replied, reloading the pistol with a thermal clip from her pack.

"Lucky, right." She reloaded her own weapon. "Who brings a knife to a gun fight anyway?"

"Why, the stylish ones, of course."

She laughed, but caught herself doing so and immediately replaced it with a grim expression. "I'm still mad at you." She stated, returning fire over the edge once again.

"You can try to be."

She turned back to him, anger in her eyes and taking him by surprise. "I'm serious!" She walked up to him and grabbed the collar of his armor. "Is this a game to you? We were only supposed to do recon and what do you do?" she made her voice deep and gravelly in her best Garrus impersonation. "Hey guys, I'm so bad ass, let's do some pro-active recon and kill anything in yellow armor that so much as fidgets!" She let go of his collar and went back to her spot to shoot some more. "Please! Shepard might think so highly of you but you're just some thug with a mean streak."

"Excuse me?" Garrus replied, flabbergasted by the sudden outburst. "You think I'm doing this for fun?" He said between shots. "You think I just felt like doing this because it was Tuesday or something?" His voice was angry. "I did this for Shepard! For the entire crew!"

"Oh really? Do enlighten me!"

"If Omega thought Archangel was back from the grave, they'd focus on him and not on Shepard!" He was yelling, he realized. _Yelling at a woman_. He turned away from her, the shame causing his expression to soften. "I'm sorry for yelling… I just…"

Kasumi's scowl scrunched up in a look of confusion. "You did this… for us?" It was funny how quiet it could get in the middle of a gun fight.

"Yes." He said somberly as bullets peppered the bottom of the crate. "I didn't want to lose my team. Not again. Not if I could help it."

"That…" Kasumi's voice wavered, but found her footing again, keeping the scowl on. "That's the most selfish thing I've ever heard!"

"What?"

"You heard me!" She said, leaning over the side again to fire back, "Trying to take the weight of this entire problem as if we were all helpless! Didn't you think of how we would have felt if you died?"

"Kasumi, I…"

"I don't want another martyr, I've known one too many." She said quietly, reloading the gun. "I don't want to see any more of my friends die as much as you do. You said we were a team, and team mates can take on anything if they work together! Even Commander 'One Man Army' Shepard knows this!" She walked up to him and poked a finger to his chest plate. "So you can take your lone hero act and shove it!"

Garrus was about to say something, when he heard a sinister whistle in the air that creeped past the noise of the gun shots. "Incoming!" He grabbed her and wrapped his other arm around the cable as an explosion rocked the crate they stood on, ripping it to pieces underfoot. A missile had slammed the underside of the crate, the angle it hit sparing them any deadly direct effects. Garrus found his footing on the hook just in time as the crate crumbled to the ground beneath them. "You still in one piece?" he said, looking down at Kasumi who had wrapped her arms around his chest. They swung like a pendulum from the force of the blast, but were otherwise unharmed. If anything, the swinging was actually helping them as the mercs below had trouble getting a bead on their sights.

"I…" she responded, looking up to his face, then looking away when she realized how close they were. "I… yeah, I'm alright." She took note of the surroundings. "Well this possibly can't get any worse!"

As if on cue, another missile flew past the pair and crashed into the crane itself. The cable shook, and Garrus thought they were both going to fall to their deaths. It held however, but they slowly lowered to the ground, towards the mercs. He looked at Kasumi in annoyance, and she replied with a sheepish grin. "You just had to jinx us, huh?"

"Oh yeah, because things were going _soooo_ smoothly beforehand." She said, working her way around him, under his arm, wrapping one arm around his waist while the other one aimed her weapon at some mercs. Pulling the trigger, her shots took out several who were running from cover to cover. "Got your back if you got mine?"

"I'd be honored." Garrus took the hint and used his now free arm to fire on the mercs on his side. The swinging was growing weaker, and he knew they'd both be dead once the cable was still. "Reloading!" he said as he popped out the used clip and, having no other option, held the pistol in his mandibles, leaving his hand free to rummage her pack for a fresh one.

"Just watch what you grab back there." Kasumi said in annoyance, clicking her tongue as her own gun went empty. She held it behind her back, presenting Garrus with the port for the thermal clip. "Care to top a lady up?"

Garrus worked quickly as he slammed a new thermal clip into Kasumi's gun. The thief quickly said thanks and aimed at a merc who was about to fire on them, punching him full of holes. Garrus grabbed one for himself and awkwardly reloaded the gun he held in his mandibles. He grabbed it back in his hand and continued shooting. "By the way, where's Legion?"

Kasumi realized this as well, "I don't know, he's keeping radio silence!" She turned back to shoot but noticed a batarian hauling around a rocket launcher. "I think I found our rocket launcher headache."

She opened fire on him, bringing him down by shooting out his knees, but he still held the missile launcher in his hands. He was taking his time, she noticed, then her eyes widened when grim realization hit her: Homing rockets!

"Uh, Garrus?" she began.

"What is it?" he replied, busy with his shooting.

Before she could say anything else, the rocket launcher exploded, it's payload swallowing an entire group of mercs in the resulting explosion. Kasumi smiled. "Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that I found Legion."

Far below, Legion shouldered it's widow-maker and reloaded another clip in it. Taking aim, it was picking out the mercs with heavy weapons and turning them to mush with the high velocity rounds. By the time its presence was noticed, all of the Eclipse heavy gunners had been taken out.

"Is that a Geth?" a human asked incredulously.

"Who cares?" replied a batarian, drawing out his machine gun and opening fire on Legion. Several other mercs joined him and a storm of gunfire crashed towards the geth. "Slag it!"

Rather than diving for cover, Legion stood its ground as the air around it shimmered, its heavy shields taking the brunt of the assault with ease. Drawing out its machine gun, it strode across the battle field, methodically taking out each of his assailants with well-placed bursts. Its shield energy was draining rapidly, but Legion achieved its purpose of drawing fire away from its companions.

There was a loud bang in the air and Legion's shields shattered around it. Legion dove behind some rubble from the office above and pulled out its own sniper rifle, peeking above cover to get a bead on the enemy sniper. Kasumi's voice chimed through the communicator, "Legion, two snipers at your 3 o'clock!"

"Acknowledged." Legion punched the air towards the snipers and an explosive combat drone shot forth. Weaving in and out of fire, the drone reached its targets and exploded sending the two mercs flying. Legion got up from cover and brought up his machine gun, mowing down anything that got in its sights.

"Wow." Kasumi said as she watched Legion do his thing. She turned to Garrus, arching an eyebrow. "Are all geth like that?"

"Nope, just that one." He replied, firing off several shots resulting in several more dead bodies.

"Well," she said, turning her attention back to the gun fight. "I'm glad he's on our side."

With Legion's aid, Garrus and Kasumi managed to easily mop up the remaining mercs, some of which started to turn tail and run. They managed to kill some, but most got away.

"This platform shall pursue and exterminate them." Legion began, drawing out his sniper rifle.

"That's not necessary, Legion." Kasumi replied, then turning to the turian wrapped around her arms. "After all, that is what you wanted, right Garrus?"

"Kasumi…" he replied slowly.

"Oh please." She cut him off with a wry grin as she rolled her eyes. "It's what you wanted right? Let them spread the return of Archangel and his new team. That'll get some heat off of Shepard."

"Kasumi…"

"You heard me, _team_." She said, "No more of this lone wolf business. If you have to go around killing people, you take me a long so someone can hold onto your leash."

"Kasumi…"

"What?" she replied slightly annoyed. "What the hell is your problem? Are you still insisting on running off on your own to get yourself killed!" she was angry now. She thought she had gotten through to him.

"Actually, I just wanted to point out that we're on the ground now."

She tilted her head in confusion, and then looked down to see that indeed the crane had already lowered them to the ground level. It took a couple more seconds for her to realize that she was still hugging Garrus. For his part, the turian merely cleared his throat, looking away when they made eye contact. The color rose in her face as she let go, stepping back a bit to leave some room between them. "Ah, sorry."

"Thank you." Garrus replied, stepping off the hook. "For the whole saving my life thing, I mean. I didn't mind the, ah… Thanks."

"Well, you did cover my back up there, so I'd say we're even…"

There was a long pause between them, the awkward tension only broken by Legion.

"Suggestion: We should leave." Legion didn't even wait for a reply as he turned and started walking towards the darkness.

"Right." They replied in unison, then clearing their throats at the same time, following after Legion.

"I need a drink." Kasumi said, wiping the sweat off her brow.

"Mind if I join you?" Garrus inquired, stepping up alongside her as they walked.

"Eh, why not?" She said, looking at him, then her brow furrowed. "Wait a minute… How can you act so normally after losing several pints of blood?"

"I-" Garrus arched an eyebrow at her question, puzzled himself. He looked down at his wound and the adrenalin rush suddenly left his body. "Damn it, Kasumi, you jinxed me again." His voice was groggy as he fell forward and his face planted to the ground.

"Garrus! Legion get over here! Legion! I am not carrying this big lug all the way back to the Normandy by myself! Oh no, you are not walking away from this, I know you can hear me! Legion!"

"By the spirits, you are loud…" Garrus moaned under his breath as the world started to fade to black again.

* * *

><p>The pain had vanished. He was skeptical at first, thinking it a lie that his mind had formulated for him to cope, but it was true. His veins did not sing with agony, his extremities left unbound, his body undefiled. The second thing he noticed was the darkness; the world beyond lay in pitch black, swallowing him like a gaping maw of despair. The third thing he noticed was the silence; it was deafening, he wasn't even sure if he could hear himself think. He tried to speak out loud, but all he managed was a gurgle. Strange, it was as if he didn't know how to speak. He started walking in a straight line, to what end, who knew? He just kept on walking<p>

Seconds stretched into minutes. The minutes stretched into hours. The hours felt like days. He walked on and on and the emptiness persisted. He would have claimed it all a terrible dream, were it not for the fact that he felt so… alive, real.

He started to laugh, softly at first, turning into a booming guffaw that penetrated the darkness as well as any light, until settling on one full of mirth. He was hardly free at all. No, his captors merely introduced him to another form of torture. Admittedly, he didn't know which he preferred less.

He was ready. For what though? He wasn't quite sure. All that mattered was that he knew it in his bones. His body remembered things. Countless hours of training, death defying feats in battle, cunning logic under fire, and the feeling of familiarity with any weapon in his grasp. He knew he could use this to kill them all. He felt his lips split into a cruel smile, and suddenly, light was cutting through the darkness. His head bolted from right to left, looking for the source, before a bright flash below him made him look at his hands. It was coming from him, he realized.

He looked down at his hands to see that his skin was fissuring, revealing scars that burned an intense bright orange. He felt confusion, then fear as the scars started to spread, then pain as they burned brighter. He yelled as he felt searing heat tear out all over his body, the hiss and scent of cooking flesh permeating in the air.

Somewhere high above the darkness, where his screams reverberated, predatory eyes watched his suffering with fervor. With pride.


	9. The Awakening

__A/N: So yeah, I'm alive. Time to make it up to you guys.

* * *

><p><em>In the beginning…<em>

_Before the great civilizations crawled out of the sea… _

_Before the first predator and the first prey went on their epic chase… _

_Before the first love was ever felt… _

_There was only darkness. _

_A black so thick, that it consumed all in its wake. _

_Indeed, nothing ever was, and nothing ever will be._

_Nothing but the empty void of oblivion; unknowing, unfeeling._

_But from the darkness sprang the light. _

_And the miracle of light brought life to where there was nothing._

_And life flourished, filling the void and dispelling the darkness._

_But the darkness was not vanquished and hid in the hearts of creation._

_Over time, like a festering wound, the darkness corrupted what was once pure._

_To take for itself what belonged to all._

_To hate and shun what was different from it._

_To kill and rape and burn for its desire._

_Thus, sin was born._

_And we cannot escape it. _

_For who can escape from themselves?_

The place was dark, empty. There was no fear or pain in him this time. As far as his nightmares have gone, this was tame. It was strange, he thought, like a switch was thrown and things just stopped. It seemed all too convenient. The nightmares hadn't been plaguing him for long. At first he thought it was just stress, but the things he'd seen… The very thought ran a chill down his spine. Can't stay here however, there's work to be done.

* * *

><p>"Ugh…" Shepard groaned as he opened his eyes, the scent of antiseptic filling his nose. The infirmary ceiling was becoming an unwelcome familiar sight to him, he thought, as he sat up and rubbed his temples. The motion caused his chest to hurt; it felt stiff and sore. "I… Ow."<p>

"I'll say." added a familiar voice next to him.

Shepard looked to his right to see Garrus sitting on the bed next to him. His bare torso wrapped with bandages while an IV line was slipped into his arm, blood streaming down from a pack held up on a post. "Hah, the hell happened to you?" Shepard grinned, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to face his best friend. These little moments in the med-bay were more common place than he'd care to like, the two being of similar minds when it came to how they fought in battle.

"Oh, this?" Garrus replied, looking down at his arm. "You know how it is, fighting off horde after horde of women as they throw themselves at you. Some of them get a bit overzealous."

"Huh, I didn't realize there were that many blind women on Omega."

"I didn't realize you looked at women at all until Tali."

"Really? That's all you can come up with?" Shepard said with mock disappointment. "You can do better than that."

"True, but since I'm still seeing two of you, I'll have to put you on a rain check."

"So what _really_ happened to you?" he replied, leaning forward, his interest piqued.

"Well, _after_ the copious amounts of sexual gratification lavished upon me," Garrus began, causing Shepard to shake his head in amusement. "The team and I got separated for a bit and I ran into some thugs. I took care of them but I got cocky, earned me this." He said, pointing a talon to the bandage on his side. He wasn't lying exactly, just choosing to leave out some crucial details about his little misadventure. "Then I wake up to find myself having this _lovely_ conversation with you."

"Hmm, it's a good thing they didn't knick your face. That would've been tragic." Shepard jabbed.

"Oh I don't know… Sometimes I'm just too good looking for my own good." He sighed, running a hand through his fringe. "But I don't suppose you'd understand the grief of the beautiful people, looking the way you do your entire life."

The two men laughed with each other as Dr. Chakwas entered the room unnoticed. "My, my, but you boys definitely look better." She said, standing between the two with her arms crossed. "Let's try to keep it that way for more than a week at a time, shall we?"

"C'mon doc," Garrus said, scratching his scar. "We do _try_ not to get horrifically maimed or injured... Really hard, even."

"I second that remark." Shepard added with a grin, getting to his feet and stretching his stiff muscles. "How long was I out?"

"Just under 24 hours," Chakwas replied, walking over to her swivel chair and taking a seat, she smiled softly, "Those cybernetics of yours really pulled you through. Several cuts here and there, a handful of bruising, but not a single fracture in sight; most people who get shot at such a range aren't as lucky."

"It'll take more than a krogan with a grudge to put me down." Shepard replied with a smirk, walking to the closet on the far side to retrieve his shirt. "Though I'm sure it's largely thanks in part to you too, Doctor."

"We really are lucky to have a dear sweet lady such as you to care for us, doc." Garrus added.

"Flatterers, the both of you." Chakwas dismissed, her smile faded and her tone became more serious. "You are not invincible, John. _Very lucky_? Yes, but not invincible." Her eyes were stern, then they slowly softened, her voice almost pleading. "One of these days, God forbid, your luck will run out."

"Look, doctor." Shepard said, pulling the patient gown over his head, and sighed, looking at himself in the mirror. "I have no illusions about my mortality." To say that his body was scarred would be an understatement. "I've had my fair share of close calls. Hell, I even went the whole way." The bullet holes were one thing, riddling a portion of his chest with scarred craters, but there were also the burns and the stab wounds. "But I'm not the kind of man who would stand by while everything around him goes to hell." All in all, his skin was nowhere near as horrible as Zaeed's own collection, but given time, it might even surpass the old man. "As long as I have something to protect… I guess I'll have to see how far my luck can carry me." He arched an eyebrow as Chakwas chuckled softly.

"Of course, commander." Chakwas sighed, turning around to face her console terminal. Of course he would say that. She looked back over his shoulders and cast him the slightest of grins. "And as long as you are inclined, I guess I'll have to just keep patching you up every time."

"Thank you, Carol." He replied, smiling back. "I'll try not to be a burden."

"Hush, I've no time for empty promises." She waved him off, typing something into her terminal. "Besides, I'm not the _only _lecturer you'll have for the day's harsh lessons." She chuckled, "I do believe you remember what Tali said to you last night? She'll have some choice words for you, commander. The girl hasn't slept a wink watching over you all night. I'd imagine she just went back to her shift after you were stable, the little workaholic."

You're one to talk, Shepard thought as he rummaged for his shirt. "I remember," he said, before pulling said article of clothing over is head, recalling his brief moments of consciousness at the time. It was a strange feeling: Looking forward to and at the same time dreading to see someone you cared for deeply. "So I suppose I can go now…?" he added, approaching the exit. His heart both sunk and dropped when Chakwas nodded her assent; He really wasn't looking forward to the talk.

"Go; tend to your ship and crew, Commander." She said, knowing very well who he was going to go to first. "Besides, dear Mr. Vakarian will need his rest tonight, which is hardly served by your company."

"_Tonight_?" Garrus asked, his eyebrow cocked, pointing a talon at the nearly-empty bag of blood above him. "I thought you said I could go after this transfusion?"

"I said you could go after _the_ _transfusions_." She stated, putting emphasis on the last two words. "Plural. You lost a lot of blood Garrus; one would think you didn't have the right mind to carry medi-gel with you." She said disapprovingly.

"Aw, c'mon doc! I'm a pretty tough guy; one bag's enough." He was _really_ looking forward to that drink tonight. "I have things to do!"

"It will have to wait." Dr. Chakwas replied, arching an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, I wasn't aware this was a discussion?"

"But-!" he persisted.

"No buts." She cut him off, "Besides, I have to keep you under observation. It's a miracle the blade that stabbed you didn't damage any internal organs, but one never knows."

"But I-!" Garrus stuttered; he wasn't backing down without a fight.

"You know I could always sedate you." She said, reaching for a nondescript, brown-tinted bottle on her desk and twisting it onto a syringe gun. "You're still groggy, so I think I can stick this into your neck without _too much_ of a hassle."

"You _wouldn't_…" Garrus squinted at her. "You wouldn't _dare._"

Chakwas smiled sweetly, but there was something sinister about that gaze that made him shudder and back down.

"Okay, maybe you would…" Defeated, Garrus turned to his friend pleadingly. "Shepard, help me out here."

"Sorry buddy, you heard the lady, doctor's orders." Shepard said to Garrus as he hastily walked towards the doors which automatically opened for him, then turning to Chakwas. "Later. Thanks, doctor."

"Try not to come back _too soon_." Chakwas called after him before the doors closed.

Garrus watched in comic disbelief as his friend ditched him. "Brilliant." He kicked his feet up the bed and lied back, propping himself up with a couple of pillows. Guess he's going to have to go dry tonight. "Hey doc, can I at least listen to some music?"

"I'm not completely heartless, you know?" Chakwas chuckled, walking over to Garrus and handing him his player and earphones.

"Could've fooled me." He replied while slipping the earphones on one at a time with his good hand. He was really looking forward to that drink. His eyes went wide, as if remembering something just now. He looked towards the chrono and cursed, he was already late anyway. "Hey, EDI!" He said out loud, the AI's holo interface popping up into life.

"You hollered, Garrus?" she(?) replied, and Garrus smirked sheepishly. EDI really was spending too much time with Joker. Though AI or not, he never did like yelling at women.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, EDI." He said, scratching the back of his neck. "Anyway, could you pass along something to Kasumi for me?"

* * *

><p>Kasumi let out a slow breath as she savored the fiery concoction that went down her throat. The chrono on the wall indicated it was getting late and there was still no sign of Garrus; guess she was drinking alone tonight. Again.<p>

EDI popped to life next to her. It startled her for the first couple of times, but now she was used to it. "Good evening, Kasumi."

"Hey, EDI, don't suppose you'd fancy a drink?"

"I am unfortunately not equipped to partake in the generous offer."

"Shucks, and here I was all decked out in my high heels and everything."

"I do not understand?"

"Nothing, nothing… Anyway, what's up?"

"Playing back recording…" She paused for a bit, then spoke again, but this time it was Garrus' voice speaking. "Kasumi, if this reaches you, I'll have to apologize for not being able to have that drink. I am being held against my will and I don't know if I'll ever leave with my life- Hey!" There was a scuffle in the background, amidst Garrus' protests and laughter. "Okay! Okay! I was just kidding doc, just stop throwing stuff at me!" Kasumi just grinned in amusement as she heard the word 'ingrate' in the background. "Yeah, um, doc says I ain't clear yet, sorry if the heads up came too late." His voice was wary, and Kasumi could practically feel Chakwas' stern gaze on him. "Totally my fault, by the way." There was a click and EDI's voice piped up again. "End of recording."

"Thanks, EDI." Kasumi said, leaning on the counter and swirling the drink in her hand, smirking. "Tell him maybe I'll drop by in the morning, if only to show off my massive hangover."

"Logging you out, Kasumi." And with that, EDI left, and she was alone once more.

Alone. The word resounded in her like a needle dropping in an empty room. But she wasn't alone anymore, right? Ever since Shepard took her in, she had met all these interesting people, people she could call friends, and had all these fantastic adventures; it was a fairy tale right out of a book. But why did she still feel alone? Oh sure, she would never forget Kenji, but she was moving on with her life. Was she though? Was Jacob just a rebound phase? All this thinking was making her ill.

Kasumi grunted under her breath and decided she needed another shot in her. Pouring the clear liquid into her shot glass, she muttered something under her breath and drank it straight down. "Sigh, I'm an idiot; people say never to drink alone when you're depressed."

"I could fix that." Kasumi turned to see Jack, taking up the stool beside hers. Reaching for a random bottle with her biotics and popping off the cap, the other woman took a deep swig straight from it, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand when she was done. She noticed Kasumi looking at her with a half smirk and a raised eyebrow. "What? I'm gonna finish the whole damn thing anyway. Saves whoever cleans up the fucking glasses some damn time."

Kasumi shook her head in amusement and decided to just go with it, pouring herself another drink. "Hello yourself, Jack." She'd be lying if she said her presence didn't cheer her up just a little bit. The first time Jack came in here to drink, no words were said between them, only the occasional hellos and what-nots. But as time went on, Kasumi discovered she enjoyed talking to Jack, who was surprisingly an intelligent and funny person to hang around with if you knew which buttons to push. They'd been friends ever since.

"Heh, so how are you doing, Lil' miss Tokyo?"

The two chatted for a while, mostly about idle things and the closest thing to Gossip if Jack was concerned. They laughed and laughed as they downed drink after drink. Kasumi re-evaluated what she felt earlier tonight. No, she didn't feel alone for want of friends. So what was this feeling inside of her? She shook it off, attributing it to fatigue and opened a fresh bottle for herself while Jack grabbed another.

Jack took a big gulp, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand afterwards and turned to Kasumi. "So how were the lights and sights of Omega? Enjoy yourself?"

"If you call near death experiences enjoyable, then why not?" She tilted her head back as she took the shot. "It was a blast."

"Sounds like the perfect Saturday night out to me."

"You're just pissed Shepard grounded the entire crew." Kasumi said, pouring herself another shot.

"Damn right I am!" She replied, banging the bottle on the counter. "Fucker said we were going on a bender, and what does he do? Gets himself fucked up like the hero he is and mumbles something about everybody being grounded on the ship! Half-dead and he's still a damn stick in the mud!"

"The nerve of him," she replied, swirling the contents of her glass with here fingertip, "Thinking about our safety."

"Fuck that, we just risked our neck for a trillion idiots, and all I want is a damn drink out in town in return."

"If it would make you feel any better, I'm sure the commander would let us have fun in the next shit-hole we stop by."

"Heh, were it anybody else, Goto, I would've thrashed them for talking to me like that. But you? I like you, you got style." Jack took another drink, "Not like some uptight bitch who'd stroke herself off on the damn rule book."

"Thanks." She sipped at her drink gingerly this time, "I take it that playing nice with Miranda hasn't been panning out well?"

"That's just the thing." Jack took another deep swig; the bottle was half empty now. "I'm getting along with the bitch! I still fucking can't stand her high and mighty top dog cheerleader bullshit, but I'm starting to like her for it!" She took another drink, the booze trickling down the side of her mouth. This woman was treating alcohol like it was water on a hot day. "And I'm starting to _care_."

Kasumi just raised her eyebrow again as she sipped down the rest of her drink. Funny, she thought, the bottle seemed to have a lot more booze in it a while ago. She filled the small glass once more. "Hmm, how's that a bad thing?"

"I dunno… It's just, she… that bitch…" Jacks eyes softened a bit, just for a second, before the fire ignited. "Fucking bitch! If she fucking wants space I'll give it to her! But fuck her for making me care why!"

"Heh." Kasumi was about to take another deep drink when something clicked in her head. _No way_. She turned to Jack, her eyes wide, a doofy grin on her face. "Are you saying… _you like her_?"

"Of course I like her! It's damn well obvious right?" Jack shot back, throwing her head back as she drank her fill. The awkward silence was only broken by her deep gulps, when suddenly; Jack's eyes shot open, choking a bit on the alcohol, causing her to cough and sputter, the booze spilling on the counter. Kasumi moved to rub Jack's back but her hand was swatted away. "Fuc-!" she hacked and coughed, the burning liquid going up her nose. "Fuck you! That's not what I meant!" she coughed some more. "Aw fuck that burns!"

Despite her greatest efforts, Kasumi couldn't help but start laughing, her hand slamming on the counter as she did so.

"You little _bitch_." Jack snarled venomously, eyes red from her coughing, a soft blue glow started to envelop her. But Kasumi just kept on laughing, and despite the pain and annoyance, her deadly expression started to crack, her biotic field dissipating and breaking into a grin of her own, and finally degenerating into her own fit of laughter. She playfully punched the side of Kasumi's arm. She repeated what she said, albeit friendlier than before, a smile dancing on her lips. "You little bitch."

"Hey now, I don't judge." Kasumi said, shrugging, then reaching into the back of the counter and handing Jack some paper towels. "Not that I can blame you, I've seen her _assets._ And her uniform compliments it _sooo_ well, too. I'd understand any woman playing for the other team for that."

Jack stared at her, a smile of disbelief on her face and her jaw on the ground. "How… How much have you fucking drunk before I got here?" she swayed a bit to and fro from where she sat, taking the paper towels and wiping her face with it.

"Dunno, but you seem to be catching up." She leaned in towards her conspiringly. "So tell me, have you told her yet?"

"No!" Jack blurted out, then seeing the grin on Kasumi's face, she added. "No. Look, I don't like her that way, okay? Shit, I'm more of a sausage eater than a grass grazer, you get me?"

Kasumi pouted, "But girl-to-girl love is _sooo _cute!"

"Heh, you are so wasted right now."

"That's a lie!" Kasumi said, pointing a finger accusingly at Jack, her arm swaying unsteadily as she did so. "I am _soooo _sober."

"Oh yeah? Prove it." Jack said with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, taking smaller sips from her bottle now. She always did find it fun to get Kasumi drunk. That part of the girl was always interesting to talk to, and if her beet-red face was any indicator, Kasumi was nearly there. "Go on, prove it."

Kasumi was about to say something, but stopped halfway opening her mouth. Jack looked on amused as Kasumi's brow furrowed as she went into deep thought. After a few moments, Kasumi had a 'eureka' look on her face and said out loud: "For one thing, I'm still sober enough to know you're dodging the topic!"

"What topic?" Jack said unfazed, drinking from her bottle.

"I… The topic being… You know…?" Kasumi cradled her face on both hands, elbows leaning on the counter, a look of defeat on her face, eyes cast downwards on her glass. "Eh, who cares?"

Jack grinned in victory, setting aside the bottle and leaned towards the other woman. Forget girl-to-girl love, _this girl_ was cute. "So, I'm surprised you haven't shared any of the steamy bits yet."

"Hmm?" she replied, evidently clueless. "Steamy what?"

"Oh come on, how raunchy was it?" her voice was giddy, and Jack edged closer.

"What do you mean?"

"The _fuck _do you think?" Jack rolled her eyes, surely the girl wasn't that far gone yet. "I mean you and tall, black and ripped doing the interracial dirty two-step!"

"Oh, you mean Jacob." Kasumi said casually, surprisingly sobering up as she said the name. She sipped on her drink. "I got turned down."

"Oh." Jack blinked twice. This, by far, was the least likely thing she thought she would hear during her inquiry. It took some time to process what she had just heard into something intelligible in her brain. And as her neurons sparked for the ultimate reply, the best she could come up with was the classic response to mind-boggling statements: "… Wait, what?"

"I got turned down," she repeated casually, "He said he wasn't interested and wanted to just stay friends."

"Are you…?" Jack said, still trying to digest the news, squinting at her. "Are you speaking in Japanese? I can't fucking understand you right now."

"I got turned down."

"Did you try to-?" Jack began.

"Yes." Kasumi cut her off.

"While-?"

"Yes."

"With your-?"

"Yes."

"Well, did you at least try to-?"

"_Twice_."

"Well damn bitch, and here I thought you'd fucking broken that bronco in."

"Thanks, Jack…" Kasumi said sarcastically. "That's real supportive of you."

"Ah, shit, what do you want from me?" Jack backed up a bit feeling a little awkward. She wasn't the best person to talk to in these situations. Hell, the only reason she's trying is that it's for Kasumi. "Do you need a hug or some shit like that?"

"I'm fine… I'm a grown woman; I should be able to handle rejection." Kasumi smirked and looked at her with a sideway glance, "Thanks though." She drank her shot and filled her glass up again. Oh boy, fuck the world, she was going to get hell of red tonight.

"Meh." Jack said, brushing it aside casually as she drank from her bottle. "Want me to kick his ass?"

"Jack!"

"Fine… Fine…" Jack said, backing down. "So what really did happen?"

"I'm not drunk enough to tell you that." Kasumi said with a tone of finality.

"We can fix that." Jack whispered slyly.

* * *

><p>Jacob Taylor sneezed loudly, sending several small parts of the shot gun he was cleaning clattering down to the floor of the armory. Sniffing his nose, he cursed under his breath as he knelt down to pick the pieces up. He gathered them in his hand and went back to working.<p>

It's like what his dad used to say: If you have time to think, you might as well use it for something productive. He sighed as he pieced together the weapon; he had received a subpoena to stand as a witness in his dad's court-martial. He needed to talk to Shepard about how the Alliance had gotten his extranet address, but he'd have to deal with that on his way back to the Citadel. Between this and all that Alliance bureaucracy, he'd take life-threatening danger any day. He snapped on the final piece, securing it into place as he folded and unfolded the shotgun's mechanisms from storage to active modes.

He checked if everything was aligned and looked down the iron sights, aiming at his reflection in the viewport. As he checked if everything was in order, he realized something: this was the first time in a long time he had truly looked at himself. He almost didn't recognize the man staring back.

"What do you want from me?" He whispered to himself, staring eye to eye with his doppelganger. "It's over and done with; you didn't make the cut."

"It's not like that anymore. This time I'm playing center stage." He slowly lowered the weapon, and then quickly brought it back up again, aiming squarely between his eyes. He was half expecting to catch his own reflection off guard. "You and me? Son, we're completely different people now. Unlike you, I am not just going to stand by while my life goes whizzing past. You blew it, but I'm taking control."

He stood there quietly, his eyes in deep thought. His gaze softened, and he stepped back, lowering his weapon, but nor breaking eye contact with himself. He sighed, and turned around, casually putting the shotgun back on the weapon rack. "Hell, who am I kidding?"

Indeed, all he saw staring back at him was Jacob Taylor, the same old scrub who couldn't let go of the past. Not more than two nights ago, this one hot asian vixen was opening her heart to him, and like a well-practiced dance, Jacob screwed that up entirely. '_Let's just be friends'_ and '_I'm not ready for something like this' _were his weapons of choice that night. Damn, he must've sounded like a scrub. Sure she had taken it well, but there was absolutely no reason to have turned a girl like that down; nothing rational anyway. But like every other love-struck fool across the galaxy who couldn't give a straight answer; his reason was simply that classic, cheesy one liner: his heart still belonged to another; it's just that she didn't even know it… Or cared, now that he thought about it. Man, he wished he hadn't thought about it now.

Why did he have to cling onto the past? _She'_s evidently moved on. Why couldn't he? Well, like his daddy always told him: If you have time to think, you might as well use it for something productive. With that, he picked up another gun and began to take it apart for cleaning.

The doors opened, and Jacob looked over his shoulder to see Shepard come in. "Well, well, look who's up?" He put the gun down and faced his CO, walking up to him. "Heard you got your ass handed to you, not that I'm judging or anything like that."

Shepard laughed as he and Jacob fist-bumped. "Yeah, yeah, I'm hilarious like that. How's it going, Taylor?"

"All good, except that I just got subpoenaed to stand as a witness in my dad's court-martial." Jacob smirked, folding his arms on his chest. "The name David Anderson ring any bells?"

"Ah… About that…" Shepard replied, apparently expecting this conversation, but not that it would come up so soon. "It's complicated…"

"I'm listening."

"I'm sorry Jacob, I told him to leave you out of it but Anderson's a stickler for procedure. He's well-meaning guy but he's strictly by the book." Shepard began, unable to look Jacob in the eye. "Look, I'm going to have to go anyway, I can try to get your name out of it."

"Nah, it's cool." Jacob said, much to Shepard's relief. "Just a nasty surprise is all." He turned back to the workbench and began fiddling with the gun again. "Besides, I still owe you that drink on the Citadel, right?"

"Looking forward to it." Shepard leaned back on the usual spot he stood in when talking to Jacob, watching the man work while he listened. Jacob used to be so stiff when it came to procedure. It was only lately that he dropped saluting him whenever he entered a room. There was a moment of silence, and Shepard didn't know what to say next. "Hey, you want to talk about it?"

"Yeah… yeah, I guess so." He replied. "The man's been dead to me for years, Shepard. Years." Jacob began with his back to him, still absorbed with the gun. "It felt like such a relief to know he was alive at the time. Even felt a bit proud that my old man wasn't easy to kill…" his voice trailed off as he wiped the barrel of the weapon with a rag. "But, when we found… After what we found on that planet, I wish he'd stayed dead to me. Now all I feel is embarrassment."

"Your dad's crimes are his own Jacob," Shepard replied, "He doesn't account for who you are or the man you choose to be."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." _I'm pretty pathetic without his help, _he thought. Jacob chuckled, catching Shepard off guard a bit. "You get that stuff from drama novels or what, Shepard?"

"Only at the beginning. I started writing my own material a little while afterwards." Shepard replied, happy that Jacob was finally loosening up more. "Is that everything that's been bothering you."

Jacob laughed, Shepard had this ability to draw things out from people. He wasn't just doing this as some kind of formality or facade. Shepard talked to everybody because he genuinely cared. He was tempted, to say the least, to get his woman problems off of his chest, but he thought better of it. "I doubt you came down here to listen to all my sob stories… Maybe next time. When we have more alcohol and less guns around us." Jacob replied, piecing the gun back together again. "Besides, you have a ship to run. Anything _I_ can do for _you_?"

"Well, I was actually looking for Tali." Shepard admitted. "I can't find her anywhere on the ship."

"Did you ask EDI?"

"EDI told me Tali instructed her to not reveal where she was."

"Little old to be playing hide and seek, don't you think?" Jacob said, clipping the last piece of the gun in place. He gave it a look over until he was satisfied. "Sounds to me like she doesn't want to be found."

Shepard seemed to mull this new insight into his head. Tali did say something about ' time enough to berate him later' while he was still critical. Maybe this little 'game' was the first in a long gauntlet of 'lessons' she had prepared for him. "Well, that leaves me back in square one."

"Which is?" Jacob asked as he put the gun back on the rack, taking a moment to look it over, then grabbing another one to minister.

Shepard shrugged. "I haven't got a clue." _Just dread_, he added inwardly.

"Best start looking then, Shepard." Jacob smirked as he disassembled the rifle in front of him.

"Right, see you around, Jacob."

Jacob didn't even look back and just waved a hand in acknowledgement. There were several steps on the metal floor before the automatic doors whizzed open and shut. He grinned to himself as he recalled Tali coming in the armory several hours ago and requisitioning certain materials for her 'project.' She made him swear to keep it a secret, laughing at himself as he recalled the quarian girl half his size poke a finger on his chest in a pseudo threatening manner. Some guys just have all the luck when it came to women.

* * *

><p>Somewhere...<p>

He stood in the blackness. He had no name, he thought to himself; strange how it only occurred to him just now. He was pretty sure he had one… but he knew things. Important things. Things he knew that must be done above all else. But why? Why did it all feel so wrong? So… unnatural?

And his memories; It all seemed so… patch worked… Those that clearly belonged to him and those that felt like a dream. No… Not a dream, it was more like a nightmare.

A sudden surge of pain behind his eyes made him fall to his knees. He clutched his head as if it was about to burst. The pain… THE PAIN! He thrashed and yelled, tiny trickles of blood coming from his eyes, running down his face like tears. He heard it sizzle, as it streaked past his burning scars, the smell coppery and noxious. It subsided, and all his curiosities had vanished.

All that was left in him was rage. His growls were guttural, animalistic, yet tempered with a cunning that belied intelligence. No, now was definitely not the time for questions. There will be a reckoning for this.

No. Not like this. Not in blind rage like some wild beast. No matter what he has been reduced into, he is a man. He will not be seduced by the temptations of berserker lust. He has to think this through. Who was he? Why was he here? His scars burned once more. What was happening to him?

Wait, he thought, head snapping up, whipping to and fro as if searching for something. Something was happening.

The darkness parted, revealing a blinding white light that streamed into the room. It seared his eyes which had become accustomed to the darkness for far too long. Then he heard the pitter patter of heavy boots on hard floor. His nose twitched, smelling something chemical in the air. His senses, he realized, were fine-tuned from all the sensory deprivation.

He tried to open his mouth to speak, just to ask where he was or what was going on. A few unintelligible gurgle escaped him, and he found that he couldn't. Had he been able to talk at all after all this time? But then, his eyes adjusted to the light, and he finally had a good view of the men before him. There were 3 of them; they wore pristine white armor with black detailing, all heavily armed. His eyes wandered to the symbol on their chests, and something was unleashed inside him.

He doesn't remember when he had started running towards them, or when his hands found the neck of one, crushing the life out of the poor man. He doesn't remember when all the screaming and shooting had begun. He doesn't remember when he had tossed the lifeless corpse aside to lunge at the next one. He doesn't remember when he had driven his fist through armor and flesh, mashing the man's heart into a bloody pulp with his bare hand. He certainly doesn't remember when or even how he had managed to tear the last one limb from limb.

But what he does remember was that the symbol stood for something he hated. Something he hated terribly. He felt the bile rise in his throat, his anger evident in the blazing orange glow of his scars. And for the first time that he could remember, he finally spoke. "Cerberus…" The word slipped past his lips like chilling venom, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. A tingling sensation in his chest brought him back to his senses. Warm blood oozed from where he was shot in his chest and abdomen. It burned and stung, causing him to gasp in pain as his mind raced to figure out something to do in this situation. He can't die, not yet, not before they do.

His wounds started to glow red, and he threw his head back, howling in pain as his flesh seared and sizzled. Falling to his knees as the pain subsided; he ran a hand over his chest, slick with his blood, only to find that the flesh had completely mended. His scars started to dim, until the glow completely faded, leaving him bloody but in perfect health. His eyes quivered in disbelief. What did these bastards turn him into? He was jolted from his musing when another realization entered his head.

_They left the door open!_

His excitement was quickly replaced by puzzlement.

_A trap? Not necessarily… They would be arrogant enough to leave it open regardless It doesn't seem to be closing. Should I risk it? What am I talking about…? Of course I should! For everything they did to me… I will kill everyone here. But I have to think this through; I only have one shot at this._

Of course, while he has killed with his bare hands, effectively one might add, being careful never hurt. Looking over the corpses of the dead guards, an evil grin crept onto his face as he started to unclasp the armor from them and their clothes as well. Working quickly, he dressed himself in their garments and armor. Looking down at the Cerberus logo on his chest, he growled and scratched it off violently with a knife he found on one of the dead guards.

He took what weapons he could carry and he stood up, making his way towards the door, his feet moving slowly. Was it caution or fear that gripped his heart and shortened his breath? No, it was the excitement. Killing the guards aroused something in him, like the passion of a lover. He stopped, inches away from the opening where the light was spilling into the dark room. He took his first step into the light, the brightness swallowing him whole.

The hall way was… pristine, he told himself. Alabaster white lined the floor, walls and ceiling, with white light illuminating every corner. It was like his surroundings were practically glowing. The visor of his helmet adjusted to the glare, and he walked along the long, narrow corridor, which curved towards the left. He drew the shotgun and cocked it, walking at a brisk but cautious pace, back against the convex wall of the corridor. In this type of environment, where there was practically no cover to be had, the first shot would always win out, and the shotgun would decimate anything in this fashion. The hallway began to straighten its path, and he saw an intersection up ahead. There were footsteps, growing louder each second. A group of men were about to round the corner.

Steadying his breath, he approached the corner, weapon at the ready. He closed his eyes for a moment to weigh his options: fight or flight? He shrugged, almost breaking out in laughter. What did he expect himself to pick?

Swinging around the corner, his mind analyzed his visuals in an alarming rate. There were 5 targets in total; 3 men in similar armor as the guards he had just killed, and one man and one woman in white lab-coats. He rushed at them just as the guards were starting to react. He swung his arms up and smashed the butt of the shotgun into the helmet of the one in front of him, caving it in on the poor man's head, leaving the contents in a bloody pulp. He kicked him aside and aimed point blank at the next guard, pulling the trigger of his shotgun and watching his shields crack and torso exploding in a cloud of gore. As the pieces of the man slid down from the now crimson red wall behind him, he noticed the third guard trying to get the two scientists away. Cute, he thought, as the guard brought up his assault rifle, unloading on him. There were a number of options available to him, but he thought he should experiment a bit, standing his ground.

His shields crackled, giving up on him as the thermal rounds now splattered onto his chest, breaking through his armor and tearing through his body. The pain was unbearable, and he found his knees buckling under him and his vision tunneling. He landed with a thud, arms lifeless on the ground.

* * *

><p>The guard approached him cautiously, and then lowered his rifle as he confirmed the several kill shots he made. He let his eyes wander to where the corpses of his two comrades lie and fought back the urge to throw up. "Oh dear lord." He whispered to nobody in particular. There was a thud, and he turned to see that the male scientist's feet had given out from under him, leaving him sitting horrified on the floor. The woman was covering her mouth with both hands, she was stuttering, as if trying desperately to say something. He didn't blame them, it was a gruesome sight. He realized both of them were pointing to something behind him. He barely had time to turn around when he heard the shotgun cock.<p>

His head was blown clean off, leaving only his neck and pieces of his lower jaw intact, like a bloody tree stump. The corpse fell to the floor, and behind him stood the man he had thought he killed. The scientists slowly started to back away, but the bleeding man whispered coldly. "Make a move and you die."

The bleeding man pulled off the splintered armor on his torso, letting it fall to pieces on the floor. He was bloodied, but seemingly unhurt. The scientists' eyes widened with grim recognition as they saw the glowing scars on his torso, pulsating and giving off heat that seemed to radiate in the air.

The woman was finally able to speak, terror laced on her lips. "You…? No. nonononono…" She knew exactly what he was.

The man was still sitting on the floor, blithering like an idiot, unable to form cohesive words. There was a loud bang, and the man was reduced to a pile of bloody meat on the floor.

The woman screamed in horror, her colleague's blood splattered all over her, but was stifled as the man grabbed her by the throat and slammed her against the wall. The world went white for a few seconds, and when she came to, she found herself staring into glowing red eyes behind the visor of a Cerberus helmet. "Please… Please… Oh god, please don't kill me. I-!" His grip tightened, causing her words to become nothing more than a gurgle. Just as she thought she was going to die, he relaxed his grip, allowing her to breathe once more. She sputtered and coughed a bit, being held up by the neck as her only form of support.

"You are still alive only because you seem to be able to speak, so listen closely." He whispered, and the woman found herself doing just that with all her power, nodding her head frantically. "Tell me, miss… Who am I?"

The woman didn't know how she was able to speak as calmly as she did, but her words rang clear. "You… You are subject-01, code name: Gemini." Suddenly, he swung her around, slamming her violently into the opposite wall like a rag doll, winding her and making her body scream in pain.

"That is not what I asked." He said calmly, relaxing his grip once more. "Let me specify then. What is my name?"

"I… I… I don't know…." The woman was crying now, her tears running down her terrified face and onto the hand that gripped his throat. "Please…."

He brought his head next to her ear, and whispered gently to her, almost soothingly. "You know… when you and your friends were violating my body…" he pointed the shotgun's barrel onto her chest. "I said please, too."

The woman's face paled.

_Bang._

* * *

><p><em><em>A/N: Gemini is finally revealed, but who is he really? All the pieces are falling into place, and a single spark could make the whole thing explode. Next chapter brings about... well, you'll just have to wait.


	10. The Storm On The Horizon

A/N: So yeah, this story hasn't been abandoned yet. Just went through a rough patch in life and I couldn't find any motivation and inspiration to write. But I'm over that now, and I have to make this shit up to you guys. So rest assured, this story will see completion before the first 6 months of the year passes by!

Chapter 9: The storm on the horizon.

* * *

><p>If a single word could describe where Gemini stood now, it was monotony. The white corridors extended as far as the eye could see from all four directions of the corridors. It must be an optical illusion, he considered, no way they go that far. The ceiling, floor and walls were all decked with the same luminescent square shaped paneling that seemed to glow softly with white light. Right now though, there were splotches of crimson haze as the blood dripped from where it splattered on the wall.<p>

"Gemini." He said out loud, mulling the name on his tongue like a fine wine. "_Gemini_. _Gem_ini. Ge_mini_. Hmmm…" He was soaked from head to toe in blood, the shotgun smoking in his hand. "I suppose it will have to do… For now, anyway."

The scene around him was horrifying; Gore splattered the otherwise pristine white of the hallway, the bodies of the dead all but completely unrecognizable as human. Taking his time to look over his surroundings, he sighed. "Maybe I should've asked more questions before I killed them all?" He looked at each direction thoughtfully, and then resigning himself with a shrug.

There was still the question though, other than who he was. It was 'what he was?' He looked down at his bare chest to where the scars idly glowed against his blood streaked skin. Casually, he drew out the knife, and ran it over his chest. The blade ran deep and his blood started to gush. He winced from the pain but managed to keep standing. Sure enough, after several seconds, he felt the blazing heat overtake him, and slowly but surely, the wound started to mend itself. Tendrils of flesh stretched out across the wound to interlace with each other and pulling the wound shut. He smirked as the healing finished and the skin started to close. "Interesting." He was no mere human; that much was for certain. _'But to what extent?'_ he wondered.

It also raised more questions: was he like this from the beginning, which was why he was abducted? Or was he given these abilities through the torture rendered upon him? If so, why? Whatever it was, somebody in this damn place better have some answers. There were just too many questions involved; too many to even wrap his head around. And he was starting to see things in his mind… Shadows of past lives not his.

There were memories, images, faces, events that he just couldn't put a label on. One moment he was at a party surrounded by laughing friends, the next he was huddling behind a crate while gunfire seemed to pour like a hail storm. He tried to arrange them chronologically as best as he could, but some pieces just didn't seem to fit, like he was trying to recreate a single picture out of several different jig saw puzzle sets.

He has been considering his deteriorating mental state. To say he was 'teetering' would be an understatement. He had just killed 8 people in cold blood, two of which were defenseless civilians. He'd be lying of course, if he said it didn't bother him. But he just couldn't blame himself the pleasure. He remembers… Knows... That he hates Cerberus. Oh, he hates them with a passion. But why did he hate them? It felt like he hated them for more than his torture; like a deep seated grudge, years in the making. This was something carried over from his past life. He let his thoughts wander when a strange sensation pulsed through his body.

That woman's blood still felt warm on him.

_So warm_, he thought to himself. He felt a strange as he looked at the crimson that glazed his arms. _So deliciously warm_. He raised one of his hands to his face and licked the blood off it slowly, sending chills down his spine. His mind flashed with images of the dead and dying, all by his hand. It was overpowering. His head swirled with whispers and white noise; a thousand voices clamoring for his attention, all wanting the same things.

_More blood…_

_More violence…_

_More death…_

His vision blurred, his mind sweetly intoxicated by the sensation.

He must have more… More! More sweet violence to feed his base desires.

"Yes…" He whispered to himself, admiring all the blood around him. He eyed the remains of the woman and his heart fluttered at the sight of the gore. Slowly, hesitantly kneeling down and tracing a finger on the outlines of her pale, terrified face. "Death is beautiful."

It was when the words left his mouth that a small, arguably rational portion of his mind discovered something about the rest himself: He was sick in the head. He pushed the voices to the back of his mind and thought hard, trying to remember anything.

Was he naturally this violent, even before this happened to him? He killed all these people without a second thought. Was he some kind of psychopathic killer? There were too many questions again. Damn, maybe he deserved everything that happened to him for all he knew.

Maybe.

He reluctantly stood up and backed away from the woman's corpse. He would have to… figure this out later, whatever _this_ was. It didn't change the fact that these people raped him of everything he had, leaving him with nothing but a mess of memories and a single name. Right now, he would call himself Gemini; it was a start. He sat on the floor in the middle of the intersection as he thought which direction he should take.

There was a high pitched buzzing noise. At first he thought he was hearing things again and started to rub his temple. It rang again, and the way it echoed in the hall way made certain the source was external.

Gemini looked over his shoulder to see that one of the dead guard's omnitool was lighting up. Making his way to the guard, he could hear the urgent chatter coming from it.

"-epeat: What is your status? Over." Came the near garbled voice from the device.

With trepidation, he ran his hand over the holo interface and the orange panels of light shifted, indicating he had activated something. A gruff voice came from the omnitool, anxiety clear. "It's about damn time Jeffries! You were due on the portside tech wing half an hour ago!" the voice barked. "I want a stat-rep, now!"

"Well, I'm no doctor…" Gemini started, crouched over the glowing omnitool. "But I believe the layman's term would be: _fucked_."

"What the-? Who is this!"

"Honestly? I don't know, I was trying to find that out for myself…" He replied casually, scratching the back of his head, "The lady called me 'Gemini' though, so let's go with that. Who are you?"

"Gemini? But you should be…" There was a long, somber silence; he could just barely hear the whispers in the background. It was almost a minute before the voice replied to him. "This is Reynolds, Chief of Security."

Gemini smirked in amusement; the man was obviously stalling for time, no doubt rallying men to storm into his position. "So you know who I am… Interesting." He observed as he casually twirled a pistol he found on the dead man's belt. "What else do you know?"

"My men, the scientists…"Chief Reynolds voice sounded strained. "_What did you do to them?_"

"Tsk-tsk, manners…" he said, waggling a finger at the device. "I asked you a question first."

There was another long silence, before the man hastily replied. "I can't tell you anything."

"An answer's an answer I guess…"

"What did you do to my people?"

"I killed them all." He said, looking over his shoulder to where they lie. "Violently." He added casually, as if it made a difference. There was a long silence; the information sunk like a heavy lead weight to the man he was talking to. Gemini cleared his throat, "So, Chief, are you going to save me the trouble of coming for you or are you going to have to make me walk?"

The reply came in the blaring of sirens from all directions followed by the automated voice of a PSA. "Attention! Attention! Code Blue! I repeat: Code Blue! All staff, please proceed to designated stations! This is not a drill!"

Gemini smirked. _That _took longer than expected.

The message was looping, and Chief Reynolds voice came on once again on the Omnitool. "There's no escape; Resist and we will be forced to hurt you."

"_Please_, what more can you do to me?" Gemini said, not giving the man a chance to reply as he deactivated the omnitool. Fiddling with the man's gauntlet, he liberated him of it and placed it on his own arm. With a flick of his wrist, the omnitool reactivated, sheathing his left hand in an orange glove of luminescent panels, streaming data from air humidity to his own vital signs. "This could be useful."

He turned his head as he heard the familiar pitter-patter of armored boots over the noise, rushing to him from the distance. Grunting as the PSA message repeated itself in the background, Gemini stood to attention and idly did some stretches. In his head, a thousand voices whispered to him, demanding blood. He smiled, reveling in it like a mantra. Blood, glorious blood. He'd paint these white walls crimson and slake his thirst on it. The voices were still slowly rising though, and his smile slowly turned into a frown as he felt his head throb, the sound growing into a cacophony of noise and static. The voices weren't whispers anymore, but boomed in his head. Something was terribly wrong.

_IT HEARS US._

_IT IS AWARE OF OUR PRESENCE._

_INTERESTING._

_IS IT WORTHY?_

_IT REMAINS TO BE SEEN._

Dropping to one knee and clutching his head in pain, Gemini clenched his teeth and tried desperately to tough out the noise. This wasn't just voices in his head anymore, he realized. Something was in his head with him. "What? Who- Who are you?" He briefly caught a glimpse of the patrol of Cerberus Troopers rounding the corner, weapons drawn, when his vision slowly started to fade out in a blinding orange light.

_FOOLISH LITTLE THING. _The voices rang out in unison. _DO NOT RESIST._

He was knocked out of the trance when several heavily armed Cerberus troopers pinned him face down to the floor. "Wha.. What the hell!" He was answered by a boot stomping the back of his head, giving him a mouthful of floor.

"Do not resist!" One of the guards commanded gruffly as he tried in vain to cuff him. "Damn it, somebody slap on the biotic dampeners on this fucker!"

A grin was etched onto the bleeding lips of Gemini as a soft blue glow surrounded him. "How about no?" The biotic field crackled and a shockwave blasted the assault troopers off of him. "And fuck you, too." He got up slowly as the dazed troopers struggled to find their bearing, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

The trooper who had stomped on the back of his head was the first to get up, whipping out an electrified combat knife from his back. Arching an eyebrow, Gemini easily sidestepped the man's wild slashes. The trooper roared and lunged to skewer him in the heart, but he sidestepped and caught the man's wrist. A well placed punch in the elbow while pulling on his wrist snapped the man's arm like a twig. He followed this up with a knee to the gut, before his fists glowed with biotic energies and slammed them sides of the man's head, crushing his helmet inwards and splattering blood and brain matter everywhere. Before the lifeless corpse could fall to the ground, the rest of the squad drew out their own blades.

"Oh you guys." Gemini taunted as the troopers rushed him.

* * *

><p>The security HQ was in a flurry of activity. Men and women scrambled, officers yelling out orders over one another and directing squadrons of Cerberus Troopers to their stations. The armory was raided for all the guns it had as the techs worked tirelessly to boot up all the security mechs.<p>

"I don't see what the big deal is." One engineer mused as he grabbed a turret module from the rack. "It's just one guy, right?"

"Yeah, but Johnson over at echo squad said this was one mean son of a bitch we're dealing with." Replied his colleague.

"Mean enough to mobilize the _entire_ Atlas division?"

"So the story goes."

"Damn. Well anyway, we're good to go."

* * *

><p>Chief Reynolds had a dour look on his craggy face as he sat behind his desk, running a hand through his thin hair in stress. The large terminal in front of him showed over a dozen camera feeds as he monitored the operation against subject-01. His elite troops, hardened veterans of dozens of operations, were taken apart as if they were rookie grunts. He didn't even know what he was looking at. He should've looked into that Alliance retirement plan when he had the chance, but no, he wanted more action in his twilight years. The job description sounded simple enough when he was hired: chief security outfit in a Cerberus research station. Now he was faced with the mother of all worst case scenarios. Were it up to him, he would've vented the whole sector Gemini was running loose in, but the higher ups needed him alive. He watched the monitor as the last man on alpha squadron went down, Gemini punching a hole through him, armor and all. The man looked up towards the camera and smiled, throwing one of the combat blades into it. "Shit…" He muttered as the vid turned static. He closed the feed and hailed three of his lieutenants. "Folger, Combes, Neilsen get in here!"<p>

The three men, all garbed in Centurion armor quickly rushed into his office. They all snapped to attention in front of his desk and held their hands behind their backs.

"Orders, chief?" One of the men replied.

"Folger, round up your boys and coordinate with Combes and his delta squadron!" he barked, bringing up more security feeds trying to find Gemini. "The brass needs this _thing_ alive, but they didn't say in what status. Mutilate the freak if you have to; just bring him back with a pulse!"

"Sir yes, sir!" The two replied with a salute before hurrying out, leaving Neilsen to wait for his orders.

"Neilsen! You and your boys are on baby-sitting duty. You take foxtrot squadron and secure the director's office!" He said, eyes still on the vid feeds, looking for any sign of the escaped experiment.

"Sir yes, sir!" Neilsen replied, leaving with a salute.

Reynolds ran his hand through his thinning hair again, puffing out a deep breath. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>Zaeed looked at the odds and sized up his opponents, taking a puff from his cigar. Looking down at what he had to work with, he knew this was going to be another 'do or die' situation. He was fine with that. The stand-off was intense; nobody dared move or say anything out of line. There was too much at stake, and one wrong move could mean the end for each and every one of them. Chewing on the end of the cigar a little bit, the grizzled merc's craggy face broke into a smirk for a split-second. It went all but unnoticed when he resumed his dead-pan expression. The room was quiet and all eyes fell on him.<p>

It was time.

"All in." The veteran announced as he lazily shoved his pile of chips onto the center of the table. He took the cigar from his mouth and laid it on the ashtray next to him. The smoke was strong and bitter as it hung over the room, and he washed it down with a sip of his whiskey, placing his hand face down on the table before him. There was a moment of silent tension as the players around the table analyzed the situation. Thane leaned forward, stone faced as he looked Zaeed in the eye. The merc merely smirked back at him, facing Thane's piercing gaze and puffed on his cigar again. "There a reason you're eye-balling me, boy?" Poker night was a favorite down time among the crew, and Zaeed always hosted the table where the big credits would change hands.

"Hardly." The assassin replied, not breaking eye contact. Being the chip leader, Thane only needed two-thirds of his total to match Zaeed's all or nothing. After a moment, he leaned back and his gaze dropped towards the credits riding on the gamble, looking thoughtful. Though in fairness, Thane hardly looked anything else most of the time. He pushed his chips into the center to mix with Zaeed's in a sea of color. "Call." Thane's style was that of his craft, cold and calculated. He almost always never committed unless he was sure to come out on top, even when he had nothing to lose. The irony was not lost among those present.

Needless to say, this gave Zaeed pause for thought. He eyed the Drell, weighing him in his mind, but Thane just stared blankly at the pile of chips on the table, resting on his elbows and fingers interlaced in front of him. Looks like this was going to be a battle hard fought, he thought, taking another puff at his cigar. That or he's going to be out of a couple of thousand credits. Either way, it was bound to get interesting. "You're pretty sure of yourself, aren't you, Krios?"

"One thousand, one hundred and twenty three to three hundred and thirty four" Thane said, still looking at the chips.

"Eh?" Zaeed replied, leaning back and kicking his feet up.

"It's the number of times I've won and lost in this game."

"Heh, cocky bastard." Zaeed smirked, "Better make that three hundred and thirty five, then."

Grunt slammed the table with his fist, causing bottles of drinks to topple and sending some of the towers of chips tumbling down. "Quiet!" He roared, "I'm thinking here." He was looking intently at the cards in his hand and the cards on the table.

"No wonder it's straining you so much." Zaeed retorted, unperturbed as he picked up his bottle of whiskey before it rolled to the floor. Luckily the cap was on, and none of the alcohol spilled out. "This isn't really a kid's game, you know?"

"You're going to eat those words, old man." Grunt said, putting the cards down. Despite his immaturity, Grunt was bred from the genes of the greatest krogan warlords to have ever lived, giving him an almost innate strategic nature. Behind his loudness, there lies the sound mind of a master tactician. With a sweep of one mighty arm, he pushed his chips to mingle with the rest. "Call." Never mind the fact that he was on his 5th bottle of ryncol.

Zaeed puffed on his cigar and turned to the rest of the table, pointing to Grunt with his thumb. "Get a load of this joker."

"Let's see how far that mouth of yours gets you." Grunt scoffed, slamming down another ryncol.

Mordin raised an eyebrow ever so slightly, but gave away nothing more than that. He would have to take note that Grunt doesn't seem to take his alcohol well for future reference, if only to be prepared for any inevitable _disagreements_. He shuffled his cards absent mindedly in his hand, going through things in his head. Depending on the player, poker was either a gamble or a thinking game, and to Mordin Solus, it was very much the latter. He took into account all things; psyche, emotional status, temperament, upcoming occasions, the smallest change in body language, even the health status of an opponent. He looked down at his hand, as well as the cards on the table. All in all, he had a pair with a queen kicker. He took a quick glance at his opponents, none seem perturbed. Right now, the odds were not in his favor, and a more conservative approach was needed. He closed his eyes and threw down his cards into the center of the table, leaning back on his chair. "Fold."

Now Kenneth Donnelly was a far cry from Mordin's line of thought. He was more of a gambler, basing his moves on gut and sheer luck. To say that his luck hasn't been carrying him through the game was an understatement. Out of all of them, he had the smallest pile of chips, desperation clear in his eyes. His hand wasn't very good either, a pair with an ace kicker. All in all, he was having an internal struggle right now based on how much he could win if he got lucky, or just calling it a day and folding. The others had to keep from chuckling out loud; it was like reading an open book.

Gabby peeked over his shoulder and started to whisper something into Ken's ear. Ken merely grunted and brushed her aside, annoyance evident on his face. "Damn it woman, I know alright?"

"Fine!" Gabby said, throwing her hands up, "It's your money, Ken. Far be it for me to tell you how to lose it."

The rest of the table just shared looks and seemed to shrug in unison as the two continued to banter at each other. Mordin cleared his throat loudly, but the hint seemed to go over both of their heads, drowned in the sea of their argument. He did so again louder, but to no avail. "Excuse me." He said, raising a finger to try and catch the attention of one of them. But the two just kept bickering.

"What are they even doing up here?" Zaeed muttered to Thane as they both watched the show, "I mean don't they have a ship to fix?"

"They said they were ahead of schedule." Thane merely shrugged and sipped gingerly on his drink. He looked at them, and after some consideration, said "They seem to be going at it very eagerly, though."

"Well, they better get their own goddamn room becau-!"

The door opened and a blast of biotic energy surged towards them, knocking everyone off their feet and flipping the table over, sending chips flying everywhere. Jack stood, or rather wobbled, menacingly at the doorway, her face redder than a beet.

"Lisshen up yah fucks!" she began as they slowly got up to their feet. "I am the meanesh motherfucker on this sship!" She took a step forward and levitated Zaeed in the air before he could tackle her. "And you are all mah bitches!"

"Grahh! You bitch!" Zaeed growled as he bumped his head on a beam as he floated to the ceiling. "Krios! Grunt! A little help here!" No response. He turned his head to see Grunt knocked flat on his ass, snoring, an empty bottle of ryncol clutched firmly in his hand. Thane was nowhere to be seen, and Zaeed could swear the chips on the floor seemed less than before. He turned his head again, and even Mordin seemed to have made a quick exit. "Heh, I would've done the same thing." He muttered, before his head banged on the beam again. "For the love of-! Ow! Watch it you psychotic bitch!"

But Jack's attention was already on the other two people left in Zaeed's quarters. "You two!" She snapped, pointing a finger at them while she fought to hold herself steady. "You two and your goddamn sexual tension!"

Gabby merely squeaked, while Ken looked over his shoulder, hoping beyond hope that Jack was referring to somebody else.

"Yeah, you two! Pisshing me off with your damn dirty talk!" Jack's eyes were glazed over, then a sinister smile crept on her face, causing the two engineers to unconsciously back up towards the wall. "I fucking have to deal with that day and night!"

"Dirty talk?" Ken whimpered.

"Dirty talk!" Jack barked hysterically, causing the two to jump in fright. She slithered over to them, stopping mere feet away from the two. "But Jack here can help yah both…"

Ken and Gabby could practically see the booze oozing out of her pores as she crept in closer, mere inches from the both of them. "Errr.. Help us how?" Ken continued, while Gabby pinched him, muttering something about not egging Jack on.

"I wish to see you breed."

There was silence, save for Grunt's snoring.

"Uh-huh…" Ken replied after a few seconds, nodding sagely while Gabby could only stare in wild eyed horror. "EDI, could you blow the rape whistle please?"

"Shpoil shport." Jack said, waving her hand dismissively. The movement caused Zaeed to bang his head again with an audible clang, having been content to watch the events with interest.

"I'll kill you in your sleep, woman!" He barked, before banging his head again when Jack turned around.

"Who shaid that?" Jack mumbled cluelessly. "Hey wait! Where the fuck do you two think yer going?" She chased after the pair as they ran out the door. "ITSH BREEDING TIME!"

A few seconds later, Zaeed fell flat on his ass, landing right next to Grunt, who was snoring loudly this whole time. Not even bothering to get up, his arm reached for a lone cigar on the floor. Lighting it up, he took a few puffs and considered what he has been doing with his life up to this point.


	11. The Offer

A/N: Thanks for the feedback, it helps to know people enjoy what I write. This chapter is fairly short, but the next one will be big. In an attempt to draw a line in the sand and make up for the inactivity, I am aiming to do at least a chapter a week, look forward to it. And yeah, Zsasz is a name of a batman villain, but it's also the original surname of my favorite comic book character, The Question, so I wanted to incorporate it in somehow.

* * *

><p>It was dim, the few lights around her flickering on and off time and again. It was also hot and stuffy. The space was not designed for such use, making it the perfect place to hide. Picking up a soldering iron, she carefully worked the material in her hands as her visor darkened to protect her from the glare of the sparks.<p>

Tali silently thanked the air conditioning and HUD adjustments of her hermetic enviro-suit as she worked on her secret project. True, this wasn't the best place to work in, but it was secluded, and gave her the privacy she needed. The parts themselves were easy to come by; flash enough credits and you'd be surprised what you could get around Omega. The rest she swiped from the armory. The tricky part was putting it all together _cohesively_. Still, despite her inexperience in this particular field, it was all coming together quite nicely. She grinned smugly; he'd never find her hiding in here.

* * *

><p>John Shepard scratched his head in frustration, hand on his hip as he stood in the middle of the shuttle bay, not quite sure what to do next. The crew working down there was careful to mind their own business, seeing one of the scars on his cheek glow sinsterly, content to mull around the cargo crates and take last minute stock of the new equipment. He had looked everywhere, and there was still no sign of the quarian machinist. It was the anxiety, and his patience was thinning fast. He just… He just had to know she was alright. That they were alright.<p>

"EDI." Shepard spoke out loud, and a few moments later, EDI's holographic avatar projected itself from the wall.

"Commander, what can I do for you?"

"Tali. Location. Now."

"Tali'Zorah has given me implicit instructions to not reveal her-"

"Override code: 11457, password: Elysium."

There was silence, and the eye on EDI's avatar narrowed a bit, as if squinting at Shepard. "I am no longer bound by my override codes, Shepard." She began, her tone less dead-pan and more… hurt? "I will not reveal her location to you because she is my friend and she has asked me not to."

"EDI, I…" At that, the expression on Shepard's face softened, realizing what he had just done. His irritability was quickly replaced by humbled embarrassment. "I'm sorry, that was rude and inappropriate of me to do. It's just that…"

"It's okay, Shepard." EDI replied, her voice was soft… maybe even consoling. "She's safe, I promise you. Just give her some time."

"I… Thank you, EDI." He said, his voice finding its footing again. "That'll be all."

"Shepard." And with that, the hologram dissipated.

Well, it turns out Tali really is _actively_ avoiding him. If that doesn't make sirens blare in somebody's head, there are few other things in a relationship that will.

He racked his brain for what he knew about quarian socio-cultural norms, going over what faux-pas he may have committed to earn her ire. Come to think of it, he didn't know much beyond common knowledge, but he was in a very uncommon relationship with one. Maybe he needs to brush up on his quarian etiquette? The doors shut behind him, and he pushed the button for the CIC. He was suddenly cut off from all the noise in the shuttle bay. It was quiet, and he didn't like it. Quiet gave him more time to think, and more time to think means you may just overthink something. Like the thought of maybe Tali was having second thoughts about their relationship.

No, no. He needed to concern himself with other matters before _that_ thought took root in his head. He should trust her more.

The elevator stopped on the Engineering bay, and the doors slid open to reveal Jack holding a struggling Ken up by the scruff of his shirt in one hand and carrying a rather annoyed Gabby across her shoulders. Other than that, both seemed mostly unharmed. Shepard's nose wrinkled as he smelled the alcohol.

Yep.

Jack was drunk.

Again.

The three of them froze when they realized the ship's CO was right there in front of them. Shepard rubbed his temples. Well, he did _want_ to be preoccupied with something else. Before he could say anything, he heard groaning from down the hall.

Sticking his head out of the elevator, Shepard turned to face the noise and saw the door to Zaeed's quarters were open. Said merc's feet were just sticking out of the door way. His right foot seemed to twitch every now and then. He could also make out Grunt lying down right next to him, as well as a- Was that a broken table?

He raised an eyebrow and turned to look at the trio in front of him.

"No, commander." Kenneth spoke up, breaking the silence and answering the unspoken question. "You really don't want to know."

"Uh-huh…" Shepard said, still with one eyebrow arched. "I thought we had a 'rape-whistle' system installed just for this?"

"Aye. Turns out we haven't reinstalled it yet" he shrugged. "Who could've known?"

"Riiight…" Shepard said, leaving the 'shouldn't you?' part unspoken. He then noticed how Gabby was mouthing 'please help me' this whole time, over and over again. Turning to face Jack, he noted how her eyes were glazed over and how she swayed slightly on her feet. Damn it, did he have to put that liquor cabinet under lock and key? Probably better not to, she would just break into it. "Jack, put them down." He said, and then he saw the panic in Ken and Gabby's eyes, swiftly adding "Gently." to his instructions.

"Oh! Ssshepard, I thought the wallpaper wash talking to me again." Jack tilted her head as if trying to hear Shepard better. Her eyes however seemed to be focused on something past him. "You can't make me." Her pupils seemed to shrink to the size of pinheads. "Pusshy."

"Wanna _bet_?" Shepard replied testily.

"Don't think I won't shlap you around even if- wait, what did you say?" The sudden change in the level of Jack's sobriety was unnerving, at best. "What the fuck did you just say!"

"Er… Wanna bet?" Shepard said again, more confused than annoyed.

Bet?

Bet…

BET.

THAT FUCKING BET!

The gears in Jack's head slowly turned as the alcohol was purged in lieu of more pertinent matters to occupy her with. She cast her memory back, homing in on the impetus that made her react to the words Shepard spoke. Yes, she could see it now. She had made a bet. It was another relationship bet, seeing as how the damn Normandy could've been the fucking love boat with how many people hooked up on the occasion. It was a bet on whether or not Kasumi and Jacob would end up being together. A bet she had made with that smarmy drell assassin, Thane Krios.

And in light of recent events, it wasn't a bet that Thane Krios had won. Meaning the money was rightfully hers.

"Change of plans, lovebirds!" Jack said, the slur in her voice completely gone. She let go of Ken's scruff, then bodily tossed a shrieking Gabby towards him, who he caught in his arms. Walking into the elevator, she shoves Shepard out of her way with a small biotic push. "Seems I have unfinished business with Thane." She explains to the rattled engineers, "You two nerds get a fucking room, and work it out, copy?"

Ken and Gabby merely nodded back to her, a dumbstruck and terrified expression on both of their faces as the elevator doors closed on them.

"So…" Shepard began, not really understanding anything that's going on anymore, or trying to, for that matter. "Are you just going to keep me biotically pinned to the wall or what?"

"Fuck you." Jack replies, but lets him down anyway. The elevator stopped at the crew quarters, and Jack got off, the killing aura surrounding her enough to make crew members flinch and leap to get out of her way. "THANE!" She bellows, just as the elevator doors close.

Shepard just dusted off his clothes and rode the rest of the way up in silence with a blank stare etched on his face. The kind that could mostly be found in over-worked and wunderpaid kindergartener teachers.

"Commander?" Kelly piped up as Shepard stepped out of the elevator, holding a datapad. "You have new messages in your private terminal. Also, here are the stat-reps for the repairs."

"Thanks, Kelly." Shepard said as he took the datapad from her. He was about to say something else when she cut him off abruptly.

"Sorry commander, still no sign of Tali." She said, looking a bit concerned at his expression. "EDI assures me she is still on the Normandy though, is everything alright between the two of you?"

"It's fine, Kelly." Shepard reassured, not sure if he was lying or not. "She just needs some privacy, that's all."

+Encrypted Transmission+

The first thought that came to mind was that it was The Illusive Man. Shepard furrowed his brow as his scars glowed. "EDI, I need you to run virus diagnostics in my inbox." He pressed some buttons on the interface. "I'm granting you full access; I want a clean sweep."

"Copy that, Shepard." Replied the AI as it (she?) ran a thorough scan of his terminal. "Scan complete, no anomalies detected."

It seemed silly to think that the first step in Cerberus' reprisal against him would be an extranet virus, but he wouldn't put it past them. They've gotten this far, and he wasn't about to take chances with his crew. He smiled despite himself and thanked EDI for the trouble. "Thanks EDI, do try not to spread around some of the more… _detailed _messages in there."

"How far are you willing to go to ensure that, Shepard?" EDI replied with a hint of mischief in her voice.

Shepard opened and closed his mouth, as if he was going to say something but thought better of it. Instead, he simply opted to raise an eyebrow. There was a couple of seconds of silence before EDI spoke again in her usual dead-pan tone.

"That was a joke."

"Right... Thanks again." He cut off EDI's access to the files and clicked on the mysterious new message. He read a few lines and his eyes seemed to widen in momentary shock. He read the rest of the message and the surprises just kept on coming. "Well I'll be damned." Shepard said as he closed the message. This was probably the last thing he expected to hear, especially from her. True enough, he didn't like the smell of it, but it was an opportunity too good to pass up.

Logging out of his terminal, he walked briskly towards the armory. This was exactly what he needed: Something to take his mind off Tali, even if just for a little bit. The doors opened, and Jacob snapped to attention as Shepard walked in. It was more of a reflex than a formality at this point.

"Problem, Shepard?" Jacob said as he noticed the tense expression on the commander's face as he walked up to him.

"Don't know yet." Shepard replied, head darting left and right as if looking for something. "How're the repairs to my armor coming along?"

"_Repairs_?" Jacob said incredulously, "Damn thing was practically in tatters when they brought you in. I'm good, but I'm no miracle worker, Shepard. "

"Damn." was all Shepard could say as he ran a hand through his hair. He had that armor since his time with the marines. It was practically family to him after the hundreds of times it saved his hide in a gunfight. "How bad was it?"

"Shepard, the damage was so extensive that I may as well have built you brand new armor from scratch." Jacob leaned back on the counter he was working on and crossed his arms. "I don't have any N7 armor in stock, but I could give you something temporary until you settle for a better replacement."

"Let's see it."

Jacob got off from the counter and walked towards the far end of the armory. Waving his omnitool over the wall, there was a click before the seams on its surfaced hissed in depressurization. The wall slid apart, revealing several identical sets of heavy armor, all colored white with orange and black highlights.

"You've got to be kidding me, Jacob." Shepard said, looking at Jacob with a mix of puzzlement and annoyance. "I can't wear one of these. Where'd you even get them?"

"Care package from The Illusive Man _before_ we went through the Omega Relay." Jacob snickered as he grabbed one of the Cerberus helmets and tossed it to Shepard. "It was meant for some of the crew in case the Normandy needed more security when we got to the Collector homeworld."

"Except the crew never got the chance to use them." Shepard finished as he inspected the helmet, remembering the time the entire crew except for Joker was abducted. "It looks solid, but I refuse to wear Cerberus armor."

"Well, it's all we got, commander. And this is some good stuff, source notwithstanding." Jacob said as he started to pull out the rest of the suit and laying it down on the counter next to him. "If it'd make you feel better, I could lose the Cerberus colors."

"How long will that take?" Shepard said, scratching his thumbnail over a small Cerberus logo on the back of the helmet, seeing if he could flake it off.

"A couple of hours, maybe less." Jacob said, scratching his chin as he eyed the armor, considering his estimates. He caught the helmet as Shepard tossed it back to him. "Are we sortieing? I thought the crew was grounded."

"I got a message from Aria T'Loak."

"Well that can't be good news." Jacob said with suspicion in his voice. "What does she want?"

"She says knows where The Illusive Man's base of operations is." Shepard replied as he made his way out of the armory. "Her only condition is if I go to her in person to hear it."

"The Illusive man's-? Seriously?" Jacob said in wide eyed surprise, almost dropping the helmet. "The location of that place is kept tighter than contraband in a bootcamp. Miranda's actually been there, and she was practically _blindfolded_ during the trip to and from. I mean not literally, but still." He set the helmet down along with the rest of the armor. "This smells like a set-up, Shepard."

"It's a risk we'll have to take. The Illusive Man showed his true colors at the Collector Base. He's a threat, just like the reapers." Shepard turned around, fire in his eyes. "It's too good to pass up, Jacob."

"Hell yeah it is." Jacob replied solemnly, "I want in."


	12. Striking The Match

Chapter 11: Striking the Match.

* * *

><p>The Kodiak ride to the Afterlife Nightclub was uneventful if anything, and Shepard had come to terms about using the Cerberus Assault Trooper Armor during the trip. It helped a lot that it was now in the colors of the N7 marines. He pulled out the combat knife from the back pack and tested its weight in his hands. It was a well-balanced weapon, capable of emitting electric pulses that could disable shields on contact, and a microfilament layered steel blade able to slash into whatever armor lay underneath. Sheathing the blade, he looked around at his squad.<p>

Zaeed puffed on his cigar as he checked his M-76 Revenant assault rifle, a bandage patched onto his scarred forehead. Next to him, Thane had his hands clasped together and was muttering something under his breath, probably a prayer. Both were only too eager to join in on the mission on the count of Jack; the former to avoid killing her, and the latter to avoid being killed by her.

Across them, Jacob sat like a coiled spring, ready to snap at any given notice. He was busying himself with one of his newly acquired weapons, a Graal Spike-Thrower, loading the razor sharp fletchettes carefully. Shepard didn't think the thought of getting this information would make Jacob so tense. Though on the other hand, he didn't notice Jacob stealing glimpses at Miranda every now and again.

Upon hearing the news, Miranda was quick to insist her inclusion into Shepard's little meet up with Aria. She was busying herself with a datapad, reviewing what information she had on the Cerberus base. She was one of the Illusive Man's top lieutenants, and wanted to verify the information Aria had herself. Or at least that is what she said. He trusted Miranda, he really did, but some ties run deep, and Shepard couldn't help but think of all the surveillance bugs she had installed into his quarters during those first few weeks of the suicide mission. At the very least she's earned the benefit of the doubt.

"Listen up, people." Shepard finally began, catching their attention. "Our mission is a package pick up, but we have to play it safe. There's been no radio chatter about the bounty on us yet, but I'm not about to put my faith entirely on Aria's sense of honor." He whipped out his omnitool, showing a holographic layout of the Afterlife. "Here's the plan…"

* * *

><p>Dr. Chakwas stifled a yawn as she stretched demurely on her swivel chair. It had been a long couple of days, to say the least. Between the several workplace accidents from the repairs and the occasional couple of idiots who bring themselves to near death and expect her to patch them up afterwards, she really could use a little break. Hell, she needed a vacation, but she's not being picky.<p>

Looking conspicuously to the left and the right, she took out a small silver flask from her coat and had a quick sip. It was all she could do to calm her nerves these days. Despite the strong front she puts up, she really does worry about the crew. Maybe it was her maternal instinct talking, maybe it was the drink, but she'd be more than glad when the day they could all put down their guns arrive.

Placing the flask back into her coat, she stood up to check on her only patient. Garrus slept soundly, having resigned to his faith after she threatened to sedate him proactively. Checking his vitals and satisfied to see them stable, she turned her attention to his blood transfusion and was happy to see it emptied right on schedule. Taking off the empty bag, she replaced it with dextro-compatible saline and let it drip slowly. She'll finish the rest of the treatment tomorrow. Right now, she was jealous of the sleeping turian, her problem child, she snickered to herself. For a turian, he really was an undisciplined sort, which made him a perfect fit for the crew, it seems.

After determining he was more than stable, Dr. Chakwas walked back to her station to turn off her terminal, before slinking over to the bed next to Garrus and get some much needed sleep. Just a nap, she told herself.

Five full minutes passed before Garrus opened one eye to peek if the coast was clear. Not that he needed to, mind you, what with turian hearing able to perceive the decrease in breathing and heart rate associated with sleeping quite easily. Swinging his legs off the bed, he gently got up, minding the bandages wrapped around his bare torso, and grabbed the post where his IV hung and stood up. Standing by her bedside, he grabbed the blanket at her feet with both hands and carefully drew it over the sleeping woman. She muttered something in her sleep and Garrus froze halfway through.

For a moment, her eyelids seemed to flicker, and Garrus could only watch in horror as he thought of what this woman would do to him if she saw him out of his bed standing over her. A few seconds passed and she rustled, causing Garrus' heart to skip a beat, only for her to roll over to her side and continue sleeping. He didn't realize he had been holding his breath up 'til that point. How could this woman terrify him so and endear him at the same time?

He smiled as he tucked her in and made for the door. He just needed to stretch his legs for a bit, he'll be back before she even knows it. Sure, she'd be fuming if she woke up, but he just couldn't stand the thought of lying idle in the sick bay. Oh well, at least she'd be fuming warm and well-rested.

Still topless and leaning on the IV post like a staff, he left the med bay, thankful for the absence of people in the cafeteria, and made for his quarters in the main battery. Too late for that drink, he thought, but the guns could always use some re-calibrating. He was on the verge of pushing it's power bleed down by 4% with his current calculations. War Emergency Power be damned, this was going to be a new breakthrough for ballistics.

His musings were interrupted as he sniffed the air. That scent; sharp and biting. He was still groggy, but it smelled acidic. A leaking fuel cell, maybe? It also smelled human. "Oh hell no…" He hurried his shambling and made it down the long hallway towards the main battery, his face the very definition of annoyed. Figures, he steps out for a bit and some grease monkey thought they could do his job better. Rank amateurs, probably thought a huge power output equaled to a better cannon. The doors parted open and he hurried inside, determined to find the cause of the smell before something hap- Why was Kasumi lying on the floor surrounded by empty bottles?

* * *

><p>Afterlife.<p>

They say the reason Aria gave the club that name was because it was a place where you could escape from harsh realities into your own personal heaven or hell. Alcohol, drugs, women, men; you could get it all if you flashed the right amount of credits. And if you flash it around too much, odds are you could be going to an altogether different afterlife when you leave and step into the wrong dark alley.

The beat of the music was heavy, and Shepard always felt like he was being swallowed by it as he made his way through the crowd of party goers. It was easy to get people to give you a wide berth when you start walking in like you owned the place with a machine gun strapped to your back.

He reached the stairwell leading up to Aria's self-made throne room when four armed guards barred his way, with the Aria's batarian lieutenant Garka at their head. Not that that slowed Shepard down at all. "Aria's expecting me."

"Yeah?" Came Garka's condescending tone. "Sorry to say, but you aren't welcome here, Shepard." The clicking sound of guns being cocked was almost inaudible under the thumping bass of the music. "Leave."

Shepard was **not** in the mood for any of this bullshit. "Just try to stop me." he replied, taking a couple steps forward.

"I can arrange that for you." Garka assured, brandishing his pistol.

"I sincerely doubt that." came a voice behind him and his guards.

Before Garka or his men could turn around, Thane had already floored two of them, breaking an arm each in the take down. Another flailed wildly with the butt of his rifle, only for the drell to side step him and drop him with a leg sweep. A quick boot to the face made sure he stayed down. The last guard, a human, drew out a knife and tried to stab him in the chest. Amateurish, Thane thought, as he easily wrapped his arms around the guard's, twisting it to make him drop the knife then snapping it like a twig for good measure. The guard screamed in agony, only to be cut off when Thane flipped him over his shoulder and slammed him to the floor.

Garka had drawn his pistol and was about to shoot the assassin in the back when Shepard introduced the back of his skull to the heavy metal casing of his carnifex heavy pistol. Even before his sorry, unconcious batarian ass could hit the floor; Shepard had already continued walking towards the stairs, noting that Thane had already disappeared back into the crowd.

His plan was simple. Going in alone was a risk, but he'd rather go in alone then risk the entire group in this gambit. With Thane shadowing him, he could focus on whatever threat came from the front while the drell watched his back. Meanwhile Jacob and the rest waited down below in Lower Afterlife, ready to bail them out should the need arise.

The encounter didn't go unnoticed, but fights were common place in the Afterlife, and it's loyal patrons didn't so much as panic at his approach as they did give him a wide berth. Well, a bigger one than before, anyway.

Okay, so Aria apparently didn't want him here. Enough so that armed guards were dispatched to get him to leave. Well too bad, because one way or another, him and Aria would be having a little chat. For summoning him in secret, she sure didn't seem to want to talk to him. He reached the right side stairwell, where a dozen guards blocked his path.

Grizz slithered up to the front, shouldering his shotgun and looking down at Shepard. "You got balls, Shepard. Looks like you forgot the one rule in Omega."

"Who's gonna remind me, Grizz?" Shepard said, looking the turian in the eye. "You?" He took a sudden step forward, causing the turian to flinch and take an unconscious step back, knocking into some of the men behind him.

"You cocky bastard…" Grizz said, fuming at the humiliation and raising his weapon at Shepard. "Think you're so fucking tough, huh? I'm gonna-"

"ENOUGH!" The very music in the club seemed to die down a bit, and the guards parted, revealing Aria T'loak standing on the first landing. The expression on her face was not impressed. Nobody dared say a word, and the nearby patrons started to back away in a manner short of outright fleeing. Nobody dared say a word, nobody but Shepard, anyway.

"Aria."

Grizz walked up to him, brandishing the shotgun. "Why you disrespectful little-!"

"Are you going to make me repeat myself, Grizz?" Aria held up a hand, and Grizz knew that was the perfect time to shut up if he wanted to keep the use of his legs.

"Uh… No, boss. Sorry, boss."

She looked at Shepard, her piercing gaze seemingly sizing him up. For his part, Shepard met the stare unwaveringly. A moment passed before she tossed her head up towards her private lounge, signaling him to follow after her as she walked back up. With that, the music seemed to return to its full ferocity, the patrons slowly returning to their own thing, and Shepard followed after her.

* * *

><p>The drink went down like slithering fire as Zaeed downed his sixth shot of whisky. Savoring the burning sensation, he put the glass down and motioned for the salarian bar tender to hit him with another. He leaned against the bar, holding the drink in one hand, casually eyeing the pleasant sights of the asari dancers with interest. The sound of a clearing throat managed to break him from his reverie. Wonderful, it's the party-pooper. "Oh, what can I do for you, miss Lawson?"<p>

Miranda stood there frowning, hands on her hips and tapping one of her high heels. "Seems like you're enjoying yourself, Massani." She began, arching an eyebrow as the grizzled merc drank his shot. "The hell is wrong with you? We're here for work, not pleasure."

"Heh." Zaeed snickered, putting the glass back down on the counter. "Sweet heart, in my line of business, the two doesn't have any distinction."

Miranda grabbed him by the collar of his armor and yanked him 'til they were face to face. "Call me that again and I'll hammer the distinction into what's left of your face."

Zaeed merely smirked. For such a beauty, she had a hell of a stick up her ass. Of course, he'd happily volunteer to get it out for her. But then again, somebody else might've beaten him to it. "Well now, Jack's _rubbing off_ on you, isn't she?"

Miranda shoved him away from her and back onto the counter. "You crass bastard."

Zaeed grabbed another drink that the bar tender took the initiative to pour for him and slammed it down. He sighed, and whispered under his breath. "They're still watching us."

"I know." She whispered back, leaning on her hip. "Blue Suns, 7 of them. Friends of yours?"

"You don't get this old in this business making friends, Miranda."

"Right…" She knew it was a good idea to go in one at a time so that they weren't seen together as a group. "Keep their attention on us so Jacob can get a good bead on them."

"I don't know why they'd look away from the view, Sweet heart."

The slap was quick and resounded in the bar, and people close by started to eye them curiously and whisper amongst themselves. "Good job." Miranda grinned as Zaeed rubbed his cheek. "Keep it up, old man."

In a corner of the bar, a table of mercs were eye-balling the two as they chatted. They didn't notice Jacob leaning against a nearby wall, sizing them up in return.

* * *

><p>Garrus snapped his talons in front of her face, kneeling beside Kasumi as she lied on the cold metal grates that served as the floor of the battery. His voice was laced with equal parts worry and amusement. "Hey… Hey Kasumi? Are you alright?" The drunken woman merely rolled over to her side grunting in annoyance.<p>

"_Watashi wa nemuru koto_…" she muttered, pulling her hood down over her eyes. "Get out of my room."

"Kasumi…" He spoke gently but with firmness, fighting down the urge to laugh. "This is my room. Get up so we can get you to your bed."

"_Jibun jishin o korosu_…"

"Something must be wrong with my translator…" Garrus mumbled as he fidgeted with the device in his ear. He looked back down at Kasumi and sighed. "Spirits, Kasumi, you are such a light weight…"

He tried to pick her up, a difficult feat with an IV line in one arm, but she lazily swatted his hands away as he touched her. "Don't bother me…"

Garrus stood up and ran a hand through his fringe. "You want to sleep on the floor? Fine. Don't say I didn't try to help."

"_Naze anata wa ikanakereba naranai nodesu ka_?" she muttered.

Garrus face palmed, having no idea how to handle this situation, starting to get annoyed. "Kasumi, I have no idea what you're saying right now."

"_Watashi o nokoshite inai…_" she continued to mutter silently, her voice starting to quiver. "_Keiji watashi o nokoshite inai._"

Did she just say Keiji? He asked himself, peeking between two fingers as he was still face-palming. Wasn't that the name of her…? He noticed the slits of her still closed eyes start to glisten with moisture, and his expression softened. Kneeling back down beside her, he whispered gently. "Hey… Come on, it's okay..."

Sure enough, tears slowly started to run down her face. "Keiji." She whispered as she cried. "_Watashi wa anata o aishite Keiji…_" She sobbed, starting to shake as she did so. "I'm so sorry, Keiji…"

Scooping her up by her upper back, he slowly helped her get up to a sitting position. "Hey… Hey come on; let's get you back to your room." Suddenly, she flung her arms around his chest, burying her face into his shoulder. Garrus cringed at the sudden pressure exerted on his wounds, but he bit back the pain. He felt warm tears stream down his skin as the small woman sobbed quietly. He wasn't exactly sure of what to do in a situation like this, so instead, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back.

* * *

><p>Shepard leaned back on his usual spot in Aria's lounge, watching the pirate queen sip on her drink casually. She noticed him doing so, eye's locked into his as she stared back over the rim of the glass.<p>

"So. You're still here?" She finally spoke, handing the empty glass back to one of her attendants.

"Not for long, repairs are almost done."

"Good riddance." She replied, managing that half sneering smile she always gave him. "You're at the verge of overstaying your welcome."

"Still mad about that whole Krogan affair?"

"Mildly irritated." She grinned, crossing her legs and resting her hands on her lap. "I see you've made a full recovery."

"I've been told you helped us out, Thank you. Would it help if I said I was sorry?"

"It would help if things didn't explode around you as you passed by."

"You know what I'm here for, Aria."

"You mean asides from pissing me off?"

Shepard arched an eyebrow at her, but Aria just stared at him, as if expecting something from him. Something wasn't adding up here. Whipping out a datapad from his pack, he tossed it to Aria who caught it effortlessly and begun reading. "I got that a couple of hours ago through an encrypted channel." He began, "From you."

"I never sent this." Aria replied, still engrossed with reading the message. "But whoever did will wish they hadn't. Nobody impersonates Aria."

And there it was; looks like he wasn't finding Cerberus HQ anytime soon. "But why go through the trouble of sending it to me at all?" He asked, more to himself.

They were interrupted when Grizz came up the stairs, holding a box with both hands. "Boss, Miller dropped this off, said it was a gift."

"As you can see, I'm busy Grizz." she answered testily, "Set it aside."

Shepard arched an eyebrow. "Who's Miller?"

Aria snorted. "Human. He's the new commander of the Blue Suns here in Omega, been sending me gifts for the past few weeks." She said amused. "Loser's been desperate to get into my pants."

Then it hit Shepard like a dead weight.

The message got him and Aria together at the same place.

At the same time.

It couldn't be a coincidence.

He darted his sights between the box and Aria. No time to get rid of it, he thought. Nowhere to get rid of it either. Too many people around; can't avoid casualties. It was best just to get away from it.

"BOMB!" he yelled out loud.

Practically jumping off the couch, he charged towards Aria, scooping her up before she could protest or attack him. He climbed up the couch she was sitting on and jumped through the glass window with her in his arms.

As they flew through the air, the lounge behind them was engulfed in a blazing fireball.


	13. A Declaration of War

Chapter 12: A Declaration of War

* * *

><p>Afterlife…<p>

Five minutes before the explosion.

There is more to the art of quick death than the killing itself. Anybody could kill; primitives have been doing it since the dawn of existence. But, it takes a master to kill unseen. Thane moved seamlessly through the crowds of people, not bumping into anybody even once. Walking in a person's blind-spot was near second nature to him, and those who saw him walking the dance floor were few and far between, most of which he purposefully let himself be seen.

The music was hypnotic, and bodies gyrated around him as he watched Shepard stop at the stairway towards Aria's private lounge. A dozen guards blocked his path this time. He moved through the crowd, sticking to the wall as he crept closer, keeping to the shadows.

Shepard insisted on non-lethal methods for this mission, at least until betrayal was apparent. It was a tall order, but not a difficult one. He reached in his coat and felt the several stun grenades he had stocked up on for this mission. Tensions were flaring, one of the guards, a turian, drew his weapon on the commander. He was just about to pull the pin when she appeared.

Aria, the queen of Omega.

Memories came back to him. He had a contract on her once. It was one of his greatest challenges; stalking her, hunting her, looking for the perfect opportunity to strike. But his employer was killed mere moments before he was about to pull the trigger. With the employer dead, he had no reason to kill her. Fate, it seemed, was making fun of him. No time for that now, though, business calls.

He was about to follow after Shepard when something caught his eye. It was a movement, but not like the dances of those around him. It stuck out. It was deliberate. And it was blue. He wasn't the only one shadowing Shepard, he concluded. Eyes sharp, he took after the mysterious figure.

To anybody else, he would look like he was casually walking around, but Thane was hard pressed to keep track of his new quarry while remaining hidden in plain sight. He must've circled the place twice, trying to catch up to the mysterious figure who was always a step ahead of him. At last, he seems to have caught up.

Thane spotted him alone, leaning against a wall on the other side of the club. His blue armor marked him as a Blue Sun, the faint glow of his armor's amp capacitors making him stand out in the dark, but not enough to render him unstealthy. His face was hidden under a full helm, similar to a death mask helmet, but the visor was designed to look like a mischievous grin. The man was twirling something in his hand, a small device, similar to a lighter, Looking at Thane's direction. That was when Thane realized he wasn't just looking in his direction, but deliberately at Thane himself. It was like he led him here on purpose. The man raised the small device in the air, and Thane's eyes shone with urgent realization. Before he could even draw his pistol, the man pressed the button, and behind him, Aria's private lounge went up in flames.

People started screaming and running for the exit, and in the chaos, Thane lost sight of the Blue Sun with the detonator. Even so, Thane heard several heavily armored footsteps coming up behind him quite well. He whipped around to see several Blue Suns coming for him, dodging just in time as the mercenaries started blasting, catching innocent people in their sights.

Drawing out his gun, he rolled to the side and opened fire, each shot finding it's way into a skull and dropping it's owner dead on the ground. Gathering biotic energy in his hand, he blasted the rest backwards with a powerful biotic throw. Lunging towards the still disoriented mercenaries, he finished off each one cleanly.

As he surveyed the surroundings, he saw more Blue Suns pouring in from the entrance, pushing against the screaming crowd and firing their weapons menacingly into the air. Loading a fresh clip into his SMG, he picked up a second one from a dead merc and disappeared into the shadows.

* * *

><p>The moment the explosion cracked in the air, Zaeed put his hands around Miranda's waist and threw her over the bar and behind the counter, hopping over after her. No sooner had he done that, the spot they were standing on was riddled with gunfire.<p>

The mercs that had been watching them had stood up and were now advancing slowly towards the bar, weapons blazing as they did so. They didn't realize Jacob had drawn his shotgun behind them.

Pumping the shotgun, Jacob unloaded into the back of the nearest merc, and it erupted into a shower of gore. With a wave of his hand, two other mercs floated helplessly into the air, carried by his biotic energy. As he did so, Miranda and Zaeed popped up from cover, opening fire. Caught in the crossfire, the rest of the mercs were quickly overcome, the last one killed when Jacob blasted his head clean off his shoulders. "You two alright?" He said, gun raised as he checked to see if the area was clear.

"Spilled my drink." Zaeed replied sourly, causing Miranda to roll her eyes. "What?" he shrugged.

"We're fine, Jacob." She said, hopping over the counter, looking up at the ceiling towards the upper Afterlife. "That explosion came from above. We need to rendezvous with Shepard and Thane."

Jacob nodded as he loaded a fresh clip into his shotgun. "Copy that, let's go!"

* * *

><p>The last thing Shepard remembered was the biting heat of the flames behind him as they flew through the air. Shell shock often came with the phenomena of a slowing of perception, as if time itself slowed down in the wake of the concussive blast. Knowing this, he still thought it was strange how slowly they were falling to the ground. Then he noticed the blue aura surrounding him. Looking down, Aria was still scooped up in his arms, eyes glowing with biotic fury and generally pissed off. She slowly floated them both down with her biotics as chaos took hold of the club. Beneath them, the dance floor had been turned into a battle field as Aria's men traded shots with the blue suns. Having the advantage of surprise, the blue suns were pushing through slowly but surely.<p>

Touching down gently, Shepard let Aria get back on her own feet. A couple of her men rushed towards them and ushered them into cover, bullets whizzing past as they ran. They jumped into one of the booths in the corner, the angle protecting them for now. "You still in one piece, Aria?" he said.

The reply came in the manner of Aria grabbing him by the throat. Her voice was ice itself. "How did you know that was a bomb?"

"I didn't." He replied gruffly, grabbing her arm with his. "I just had a hunch."

"So even if you there wasn't a bomb, you still would've just jumped out like that with me in your arms?"

"More or less."

"You are a very strange human." She decided, finally letting go.

"Hey, it got me this far, right?" he replied, then flipping open his Omnitool. "Shepard here, sound off, you guys alright?"

Miranda's voice was filled with relief, gun fire barking in the background. "Shepard! What the hell happened? We have blue suns swarming in from the lower bar; we're making a slow retreat to your position."

"The blue suns just tried to assassinate Aria and possibly me," he replied. "They're pouring in from here as well, at this rate they'll have us pinned in a vice grip." He carefully looked over cover and ducked back again as bullets ricocheted past him. "Rendezvous with us up here, we'll have to fight our way out!"

"Copy that, just give us a bit and we'll be right there."

Shepard shifted frequencies and hailed Thane. "Thane, are you alright?"

"I'm behind their lines right now, just give the signal for when we make our break for it."

"Nice, stay out of sight."

"Always."

Shepard cut the comm and turned to Aria. "We'll be pinned down soon, we need to work together to get out of here!"

"Run?" she asked incredulously, taking a pistol one of her men handed her. "Don't order me around, Shepard. I'm going to kill Miller for this."

"You can't kill him if you die here!"

"Watch me." With that, she jumped out of cover, flinging her biotics with on hand and opening fire with the other.

"Shit." Shepard cursed under his breath as he pulled out his assault rifle and chased after her.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the Normandy…<p>

After Kasumi had calmed down, drifting back into unconsciousness, Garrus managed to somehow carry her back into her room while maneuvering the IV post he was attached to. The trip was slow and cumbersome, but he made it. Eventually. Spirits his chest was killing him.

It was not a feat he would care to repeat again anytime soon.

The room was a mess. Bottles were strewn about everywhere, mostly whole while others were broken; and there were several puddles of booze around the bar counter. Nothing else was broken though, which would be more of a relief for Kasumi when she woke up.

"Looks like I missed a hell of a party." Garrus whispered as he carefully made his way over to Kasumi's bed, which was thankfully spared from the horrors of the rest of the room, avoiding anything that could make him slip along the way. Setting the woman gently down on the soft white sheets, he finally let out a breath of relief to having a job well done. For a lithe woman, she was heavier than she looked. He snickered to himself, looking over Kasumi's sleeping form. "Figures…A girl saves your life and suddenly you're expected to be at her beck and call."

Kasumi squirmed a bit, before lying flat on her back, arms sprawled on either side of her head as the woman stretched in her sleep. Her back arched upwards, accentuating her curves through the skin tight suit that she wore. She moaned as she did so, biting her lower lip as she enjoyed the warm softness of the bed underneath her.

Garrus just stood there for a while, jaw dropped and drinking in the sight. He had never really looked at Kasumi this way before. Forget that; He had never looked at a member of a _different species_ in the same manner before, but Kasumi did look quite… feminine. It would be a couple more moments before he would realize he was staring. Quickly turning his gaze away, he cleared his throat and grabbed his ad-hoc staff. Yes, now would probably be a good time to make an exit.

Turning around, he quickly made for the door.

Wherein he proceeded to slip on a bottle on his first step.

He fell backwards, hands flailing as he tried to reach for the post for balance but to no avail. Fucking bottles. Knowing then and there that he would land on Kasumi, he had to adjust the trajectory of his course. Praying to the spirits for guidance, he twisted around during the fall and put both his hands in front of him. He managed to land them both on either side of her, hard, taking the weight of the fall on his arms. His knees banged against the side of the bedframe, buckling, but he maintained his balance. It hurt, and Garrus cringed, closing his eyes as the pain coursed through the wound in his torso and arms, especially the one with the IV in it. But he did manage to avoid falling on Kasumi.

He felt a warm breath on his face, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was mere inches away from Kasumi's. He felt his heart skip a beat. The hood had been drawn back a little, and he realized that this was the first time he saw her face unobscured. Alcohol breath aside, she was beautiful… for a human anyway. Even the puffiness around her eyes from all the crying did little to take away from just how… pretty she looked. Her features looked soft; especially those… what did humans call their mandibles again? Lips? They looked so inviting. Tempting even… He realized he was unconsciously closing the gap between their faces and stopped himself just in time.

No.

This is wrong.

This is seriously wrong.

She's your friend, he told himself. She was just crying her eyes out moments ago and now he was... He didn't even want to think about it. He made himself sick. By the spirits, she's not even a turian! Not that non-turians were unattractive mind you, it's just that he considered himself a one-species kind of guy. And besides he- Spirits was he rambling in his head?

And that was when the door opened.

The moment that go-getter Chambers told her that Thane had left for a mission with the commander, Jack was pissed. She was pissed like you wouldn't believe. Not only did that smooth bastard get away from her clutches, but he also got to go to the Afterlife! The Goddamn Afterlife!

She stomped into the lounge and headed straight for the bar counter, crushing glass underneath her boot and just daring any puddle to make her slip. She took a seat and grabbed the nearest bottle she could reach, crack open the lid, and drinking straight from it. "Fucking drell! Fucking Shepard! Fuck this goddamn ship too!" she started to rant, swinging the bottle around.

This was bad, Garrus thought.

This was_ really_ bad.

The moment Jack stepped in, Garrus had been holding his breath. By some blessing of the spirits, she happened to not notice him straddled on top of Kasumi in this manner. But when she did…

No, no! That's defeatist talk!

_If_ she did… he clarified to himself.

Okay, the key out of this whole situation was calming down. He'd start by getting off the lithe woman and calmly let Jack know he was in her presence. He would then proceed to explain he was just tucking Kasumi into bed after she had wandered drunkenly into his quarters, make trademark witty remarks, and get the fuck out of there. Fool-proof!

Well, the plan _was_ fool-proof. Up until Kasumi grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him full on the mandibles.

It took Garrus by surprise, to say the least. It felt very different from any turian female he had ever kissed. The rational part of his mind was slowly pushed back into a corner. This girl knew what she was doing. He tried to break free, but in his current condition, he only managed to struggle a little. That and Kasumi was apparently stronger than she looked, as was previously established.

It was then that Kasumi broke the kiss and moaned out loud. Before pulling him back in again.

Spirits, Garrus was so dead.

Jack's head perked up, she didn't turn around but had a malicious smile creeping onto her face. She forgot she had left Kasumi here when she passed out. And it looks like she was dreaming. The kind of dream that was sweet and raunchy enough for her to moan in her sleep. She whipped out her omnitool and set it to record. Then she'd upload the file into Kasumi's omnitool and watch comedy gold happen.

The last thing she thought she would see when she turned around to record the scene was a half-naked turian, who for some reason had an IV line on a post right next to him, on top of her friend. On top of her _friend_. Both seemed quite busy, although Garrus was flailing a bit as if he was struggling to get off. She stared for a few seconds, jaw dropped, then finally managed to form the words in her mouth. "What the fuck… In the holy hell… am I fucking looking at!"

Garrus finally managed to break free of Kasumi, who let out a groan of disappointment as the kiss ended, and scamper as quick as he could off the bed. He turned towards the shocked Jack. He needed a really good opening argument to get out of this one. All he could come up with in his flustered state however was "Ummm…" Sheer poetry.

"Garrus? The fuck is this? The fuck is that! Is she-? Did you-? Explain! **NOW!**"

"Look, I know how this looks like, and I know you're already forming your own conclusions in your head." He began slowly, hands gesturing in a reassuring manner. "But this is not what you think it looks like, I assure you."

"Oh? Oh really?" Jack replied, tone nearing hysterical. "So you just happened to _accidentally_ kiss her while she was unconscious? Is that what you're trying to say? That this is all just some big fucking misunderstanding?"

He looked her right in the eyes, determination and sincerity etched onto his face, and nodded, saying "Yes."

A full 30 seconds of silence passed between them.

Jack spoke first. "What a funny misunderstanding." she just tilted her head sideways and slowly started to glow blue. Her pupils narrowed into pinheads and she started to laugh, a slow mirthful laugh, slowly advancing on Garrus. "C'mon Garrus, laugh with me."

Seeing this, Garrus unconsciously backpedalled until he had his back to the wall, laughing nervously with the incoming Jack.

Jack was face to face with him now, booming with laughter. She was practically invading his personal space, tendrils of biotic energy snaking all around her.

Garrus had no choice but to laugh along and hope for the best.

"Hey, Garrus?" She said, a sickeningly sweet tone in her voice.

"Ye-yeah, Jack?"

"You wanna tell me how to neuter a turian?" She asked, running a finger over his toned chest, "No, don't tell me. Going in blind is always fun."

Before he could reply, something hit the side of the ship. Hard. The whole ship shook on impact and knocked both Jack and Garrus on their respective asses.

Kasumi suddenly sat up right, clutching her temples as she did so. "Ugh… What the hell did I drink? It feels like the whole ship is shaking!" she muttered. She squeaked in fright as another impact rocked the ship. Looking next to her, she saw Jack and Garrus in a tangled heap on the floor. "Eh? Jack? Garrus? What's going on here?"

Garrus got up right and helped Jack up to her feet, who quickly swatted his hands away.

"Fucking ugly date-raper." She muttered through gritted teeth.

"I told you, that's NOT what happened!" Garrus said, at the end of his rope. "Can we please discuss this later?"

"Fine."

Kasumi got off the bed, leaning on the wall for support, gripping her head from the hangover. "My treasures!" She yelled into Jack's ear in dismay, head throbbing and seeing her things on the floor. "What the fuck is going on!"

"The hell should I know!" Jack yelled back. She pulled out a small bottle from her pants and tossed it to the other woman. "Here, for your head."

Kasumi caught it, popped the cap, and drank the contents with gusto. "Thanks." She said, wiping the sides of her mouth. The pain in her head started to dull as the hangover remedy took effect. She hurriedly paced around the room, carefully picking up books, paintings and statuettes. "My babies! Don't cry, mommy's here now…" she said tearfully as Garrus and Jack raised an eyebrow each. Kasumi gently placed them on a quickly growing pile on her bed. She turned to them, a serious determination shining from her eyes. "Now then, what the hell is going on?"

"Hold on, let me check…" Garrus muttered back, "EDI, what's going on?"

No answer. The lights started flickering on and off as well.

"EDI?" Garrus repeated.

This time, a response came blaring into the intercom. "All personnel, be advised, I am currently withstanding 727,485 simultaneous hacking attempts. The shipyard has been compromised and take off is not possible at this point. I am doing all I can to remedy this. Be prepared for a boarding scenario."

Jack walked up beside Garrus. "That can't be good."

"It hardly is…" He carefully walked over to the viewing port in the lounge to catch a glimpse of the outside. "What the hell is- Oh shit!" He quickly jumped for the button to close the shutters, and no sooner than he did, another impact rocked the ship. He fell, and his IV line pulled itself out from him. He cringed as his hand started to bleed from the laceration. "Great…" He said as he applied pressure to the wound. He saw enough however to get a bead on the hostiles. Yellow armor, the Eclipse.

* * *

><p>Outside, the Ban'Torvias Shipyard was sprawling with Eclipse mercenaries. The volus proprietor and his men were huddled into a corner and held at gun point.<p>

"Bu-But, we had a deal! Just ask Tarrana!" The wheezing Ban'Torvias pleaded. "She said she'd give me the Normandy if I showed her where it was!"

"Boss says the deal is off." One of the mercs, a salarian, replied, "She also sends her goodbyes."

"No!"

The screaming was cut short and lost under the sound of gunfire as the Eclipse mowed down all their prisoners.

"Boss, this is Filon." The salarian merc said over the communicator, "We've cut the loose ends over on our side, orders?"

"Make sure nobody gets in or out of the shipyard until we've cracked her open." A sultry voice said over the comm. "Oh, and what did I say about calling me boss, hmm?"

"Ah… C-copy that, _my lady_."

"Better. Now get to it."

"Yes, my lady." He turned towards his men and started barking orders. "You heard the lady, I want a tight perimeter on the area now! Engineers, set up point defenses and auto-turrets! Go, go, go!"

"Good, good." Tarrana Ionet, commander of the Eclipse, smiled as she closed the comm frequency. She was tall for an asari, her slender form still evident under the light armor she wore. Her eyes were hidden underneath yellow tinted shades, and holographic plates shimmered on her like armor as she busied herself with several terminals, each held by a kneeling Loki mech in front of her. "Now, onto the meat of the business, yes-yes?"

Looking at the Normandy from her perch in the distance, she saw with satisfaction that it was surrounded by a dozen Ymir mechs, heavy cabling extending from their arms onto large disc like devices latched onto the side of the ship. "Lessa, what are the statuses of the Ymirs?"

"My lady, the Ymirs have finished deploying the last magnetic anchor." Another asari responded. "Magnetic anchors have been locked and engaged. The ship has some serious firewalls but we'll find a chink in the armor soon. Waiting for further orders."

"Wonderful, just keep at it, darling!" Tarrana beamed. She put a hand on her hip and waved an omnitool over the terminals. "All units, prepare to board the Normandy!"

* * *

><p>"I am fucking sick and tired of falling on my ass." Jack said as she got up, finding her footing again. "Well?"<p>

"Eclipse," Garrus began, trying to stop the bleeding futilely. "They have Ymirs firing magnetic anchors on the ship; trying to pin us down. They must also be doing something to mess with EDI." He got up to one knee, his body aching. "Shit, how did they find us?" his mind was racing with dreaded scenarios.

"We can worry about that later." Kasumi clicked her tongue as she popped up to his right, kneeling beside Garrus. "You really can't do anything right without somebody watching your back." She took his hand and wrapped a white strip of cloth, a piece torn off from her bed sheet, tightly around it. It stained a dark blue, but nothing further than that. "I can't keep coming to your rescue, you know?"

"Thanks", He had trouble looking her in the eye as she finished up, still wary of what happened between them. "It's really flattering how highly the drunkard thinks of me."

"Cheer up, Garrus." She smiled obliviously, "I'm sure there are plenty more opportunities to impress me."

Garrus wracked his brain for a witty come back, but all he could think of were how soft those lips were. Instead, he cleared his throat, looked away and said. "Uh… Sure."

Kasumi smirked. "There's a good boy."

Jack merely raised an eyebrow at the two. Confronting Garrus would have to wait, but maybe it was for the best. She smirked and dusted herself off, "Well, time to go bust some heads, I guess."

"Indeed." Garrus agreed. "Shall we suit up, ladies?"


	14. Fog of War

A/N: Thank you for the kind reviews, it really makes me feel nice knowing people enjoy my story.

Chapter 13: Fog of War

* * *

><p>Despite Aria T'Loak's firm grip on its denizens, Omega has always been a powder keg in a room full of candles. It took a steady but firm hand to maintain any semblance of order in the rogue space station. All it took was a simple application of force and violence in the right place and blam, the whole station would explode into chaos. And as it burned down, a new order would rise to take hold of the station, or whatever was left of it. Aria clearly remembers the last time that happened, when she overthrew the rule of the krogan now known as The Patriarch, right here in the Afterlife. She'd be damned if she let history repeat itself in her natural lifespan. She'd put an end to this right here, and then she'd hunt down and kill every blue sun on the station.<p>

The blue suns had bunkered down at the upper and lower entrances, sending in wave after wave of their men, while Aria's pirate forces fought for their lives controlling the main hubs. Aria's men held their own valiantly, but the blue suns were slowly pushing through, being more organized than the rattled defenders. Every inch lost to the invaders cost dozens of lives from both sides. The fighting had become so thick in some places that many had resorted to hand-to-hand combat, trampling over the dead from both sides, with curses, screams and gunfire replacing the heavy bass beats of the club.

* * *

><p>Shepard ran from cover to cover, trying to keep up with Aria as she rushed towards the front lines of battle. "Aria! Wait!" Leaping out of cover, he took aim with his assault rifle and squeezed the trigger, dropping a merc with each burst. This was getting from bad to worse. Aria had bolted on ahead and out of sight, the smoke from the fire having created a literal fog of war in the battlefield. They were in too deep now, and escape wasn't an option anymore. The only way to get out of this is to survive. The odds of which were as limited as an honest dealer on Omega. Slamming in a fresh clip, he advanced swiftly, looking for any sudden movements in his vicinity.<p>

There was the snap of gunfire, and Shepard immediately ducked into a roll, landing prone on the floor. Shots were fired again, but went wide and missed him completely. He could make out the armored silhouettes of several mercs in the smoke. Getting up on one knee, he aimed in the general direction of the shooters and unloaded, sprinting for cover. He traded shots with his obscured assailants and baseball-slided behind an overturned table. Bullets razed his cover, whittling away at it as he switched out the rifle for his shot gun. Ditching the now perforated table, he pulled the pin on a couple of frags and lobbed it at them. Not even bothering to look at the ensuing explosion, he advanced deeper into the battlefield, pumping his shotgun.

The fighting was getting intense, and Shepard found a lot of use for his shotgun as he tore a path through any Blue Sun unfortunate enough to get in his way. "Thane!" He barked into his comm, "Keep tabs on Aria! Watch her back!"

"Understood Shepard, I have her in my sights."

"Copy that, Thane, over and out!" He replied as he shot out the knees of a merc, causing the man to fall to the ground screaming in pain before curb stomping him out of his misery. "Miranda, I need a sit-rep!"

"Shepard, we've joined up with Aria's pirates but it's a blood bath down here!" Miranda said urgently, gunfire barking in the background. "The way up is blocked; The path collapsed during the explosion! They have some biotics down here trying to clear a way but I don't think we can give them enough time, Shepard."

Shepard quickly glanced at where Aria's personal lounge was once perched. It was a fiery mess of twisted steel, the blaze still burning. The path that leads to the inner workings of the bar beneath it had indeed collapsed. "Stay calm, Miri, I'm bringing all of you back alive today!" he replied, ducking as he reloaded. "And keep the Normandy posted, we're going to need some back-up here!"

"Shepard, that's the thing! The Normandy's been on radio silence this whole time!"

"Shit…" he cursed as he shot another merc. "What about Aria's men? Why aren't they bolstering your position?"

"These thugs are hardly a military unit, Shepard…"

"Then do what you do best, Miranda!" He said, trading shots with the Blue Suns. "There's no other way out; we've got no choice but to outlast this!"

* * *

><p>"Copy that, Shepard." Miranda said as she cut off the comm. "Damn it…" She, Jacob, Zaeed and a bunch of other men were bunkered down in the lounge connecting both upper and lower Afterlife behind some hastily erected defenses. The fire fight was fierce, bullets whizzed past above her from where she ducked for cover.<p>

A pile of corpses in blue armor was slowly starting to grow as the Blue Suns tried in vain to advance from the hallway up towards their position. That bottleneck was the only thing keeping them alive.

Zaeed was busy muttering a litany of curses as he unloaded the contents of his revenant LMG, keeping the blue suns at bay. He ducked to reload, "So, I'm guessing we're on our own down here, eh sweet-heart?"

"Seems like it," she said, before whacking him lightly on the side of his head. "And I said don't call me that, you geezer."

"Hah!" Zaeed said in amusement. He then planted the machinegun on top of his barricade, proceeding to unload once more. "Pull!"

"Got it!" Jacob waved his hand in the air, catching a merc with his biotic pull and lifting him out of cover to be shredded by the torrent of bullets. He pulled out his heavy pistol and resumed trading shots with the suns. "There's no end to them."

. "At least there's no shortage of thermal clips, either!" Zaeed yelled over the barks of his weapon.

Miranda pulled the trigger, landing a neat shot between the eyes of a merc who was dumb enough to stick his head out. "Not if this keeps up…" Her eyes darted around, looking for a command officer among Aria's men. "Hey! Hey you!" She yelled, hailing a turian crouched behind the barricade next to hers.

"Who? Me?" the pirate replied as he fired blindly from cover. "I'm busy, lady!"

"Yes, you! Who's you're C.O.?"

"My _what_?" the pirate sounded insulted, reloading his gun.

The asari next to him leaned in to whisper something as she reloaded, "I think she's hitting on you."

"Ugh…" Miranda wished she wasn't holding a gun so she could rub her temples. "Who's _in charge_?"

"Huh?" He gave her a look as if she asked which way was up or down. The asari next to him sniggered. "Well, Aria is!"

Miranda then proceeded to rub her temples with her gun. "_**I meant down here!**__" _Idiots.

"Down here? Hah!" The turian jerked a thumb to the back of the defenses. "That'll be the blood smear back there!"

"Brilliant…" she muttered as she swung out of cover to return fire. She caught a merc full on the chest as the human tried hopping from one cover to another, falling down into a crumpled heap. This was impossible. Without an organized defense they'll be overrun in a matter of time. She didn't want to die here. She couldn't. She still needed to protect Orianna.

She felt a hand gently squeeze down on her shoulder. Turning around, she met Jacob's eyes. He didn't say anything, he didn't need to; they'd known each other long enough to… understand each other. He just looked at her, and Miranda knew what he meant. Flashing a quick smile, she nodded and turned back to the turian, a new determination shining in her eyes. "Well guess what, boys and girls? I'm in charge now!"

The pirates collectively stared back at her, then at each other, before breaking into laughter in the middle of battle. A batarian at the back mocked her. "I needed a laugh before I died, thanks lady!"

Miranda didn't even give it a second thought as she bolted up towards the batarian, bullets whizzing past her as she quickly closed the distance between her and the pirate.

Jacob had to do a double take before he registered what just happened, "What the fu-? Miranda!" He frantically got up to lay suppressive fire. "Zaeed! Help me cover her!"

"That one's a keeper, kid!" Zaeed jeered as he lobbed an incendiary grenade to preoccupy the mercs.

Jacob just grunted in reply as he dropped another merc.

Miranda balled up her fist and punched the batarian in the face, flooring the pirate. When he tried to get up, she kneeled down on his neck and stuck her pistol to his face. "You want to die? I'll save the blue suns the trouble and help you out myself." She sneered. She heard the sounds of guns being cocked around her, and she didn't need to look to know that several pirates were now aiming their sights at her. Ignoring them, she looked the batarian in the eyes, watching them quiver in fear as he gasped for breath. "What's wrong?" she mockingly asked. "I thought you were so ready to die? No? Good." Getting her knee off his neck, the pirate sat up, coughing. She looked around at the other pirates, "What about you? Who else wants to live and see another day?"

"You bitch…" The batarian roared and reached for his pistol, but Miranda swatted him with her gun, effectively knocking him out.

"We could talk about this all day you know, or you could take a risk." She continued as if nothing happened. "If you want a shot at life, you'll answer to me until we're out of this, is that clear?"

A turian slowly started nodding as he lowered his weapon. "I… I think we should follow the lady."

Another turian looked at him incredulously. "You what?"

"Well what do we have to fucking lose, Ralloth?" he barked back to his companion, then turning to look at the rest of the pirates. "I have a sweet heart in the Gozer district I want to come back to. I don't want to die here, and if this lady says she knows how we can make it out then I'm listening to her!"

"Alright, alright, geez!" Ralloth relented, reloading his weapon. "I don't like it, but I have your back, Leethwin."

"I'm in." a pirate said in the distance.

"Me too!" One of the biotics working the wall wheezed as she tried to shift the collapsed wreckage that blocked their way with little avail.

"So are we!" The first turian she talked to yelled over the gunfire from the front line.

Like a rippling pond, the effect of her words seemed to grow more and more, eventually gathering the assent of all the pirates there. Miranda smirked as all eyes settled on her. "Right, I don't care who you are or what you did, you're soldiers now! Here's what we'll do…"

* * *

><p>Ducking into a descending walkway that led into a private room, Shepard loaded a fresh thermal clip into his shotgun. The battle hadn't gone on for more than a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity now as the constant barrage of gunfire deafened him.<p>

Looking around the corner, a squad of 4 blue suns advanced, guns blazing. Taking a deep breath, he swung out of cover and aimed at the lead merc. Pulling the trigger, blood and armor exploded on those around him. Going with the shock and momentum, Shepard got into melee range and swatted the closest one with the butt of his gun. He swung around, catching another in the jaw and giving the merc next to him a boot to the gut, sending him sprawling on the ground. Pumping his shotgun, he shot the downed man, making his brains splatter onto the cold metal floor. One of the mercs, a batarian, grappled him from behind, but an elbow to the face quickly fixed that problem. Taking a grenade, he pulled the pin and shoved it into the stunned batarian's mouth. Grabbing him by the scruff, he bodily tossed the merc at the last surviving member of the squadron and dove for cover. There was an explosion and a shower of scrap and meat, and Shepard got up.

"Help me, please…!"

Shepard looked down to see a human pirate lying on the floor. Kneeling next to him, he did a cursory look over at his state. Bleeding, armor broken, the guy was practically one foot in the grave. "Easy, I'm Commander Shepard, what happened?"

"I was with Tassan, those fucking suns jumped us…" He weakly pointed towards a batarian lying face down on the ground in a pool of blood. "They killed him and left me for dead."

"The mercs who killed your friend are dead." Shepard said, applying medi-gel on the wound. "This will help for now." He got up and helped the pirate get back on his feet. "Have you seen Aria?"

"The boss? Yeah, she sped past us before we got bounced by the suns. Went that way." He replied, clutching at his chest while nodding his head in Aria's general direction. "Thanks."

"Just lay low, and shoot anything with blue armor." With a nod, he sprinted off into the general direction the pirate had indicated. He had to keep Aria alive. She was powerful, but she's in over her head. If she died, these pirates would lose what little morale they had left, and that would be the end. "Thane…" he said as he opened his comm. "How are you holding up?"

"I have Aria in my sights, she is certainly… incensed."

"I'll be right there!"

* * *

><p>The smoke still rolled thick from the smoldering ruins of Aria's lounge. Should this continue, then they'd all be dead from poisoning if the enemy hadn't killed them first. Fortunately for Thane, death wasn't a fear, but a truth of life. Even through the curtain of smoke that obscured his vision, his walk around of the place before the attack gave him enough bearings to know where he was in the club. A gun in each hand, he stalked the smoke like a predator, keeping the pirate queen in his sights, shadowing her just as Shepard had asked of him.<p>

She was powerful, but she was also reckless he thought, diving head first into the enemy, like a wailing banshee of fury. It left her vulnerable, but he supposed that was why he was here. Bringing both guns to bear, he opened fire on a squad of mercs who rushed her from her flank, giving Aria enough time to turn and send a biotic wave crashing right into the hapless suns. At the very least, he could respect her skill, if not approve of it.

She didn't even bother giving them a second look as Aria just pressed onwards, disappearing into the smoke. Thane shook his head as he regarded the still groaning Blue Suns on the floor. "Sloppy of her." he muttered, lazily finishing each off with a bullet to the head as he walked past them.

He finally caught sight of Aria again at the front lines, like a rock that stood firm against the waves of enemies that crashed upon her and her men, holding them back. With bullets and biotics, she dealt death like rain on a stormy day.

Aria roared in fury as she used her biotics to jump high into the air, curling her fist and landing on top of a group of blue suns, breaking straight into their lines. She punched the ground and a biotic shockwave sent them all flying into the air, landing violently like rag-dolls. Turning her sights towards the closest merc, she leveled her heavy pistol and unloaded into the hapless batarian. Ducking and rolling, she managed to slide into cover just as a dozen guns turned their sights on her and opened fire.

Crossing her hands in front of her, a biotic field shimmered to life, shielding her from the torrent of bullets. She smiled, she may not be able to hold this for long, but she can hold it long enough for her men to charge in. The pirates of Omega rallied, seeing their leader charge forward, and took the fight to the suns, guns blazing and chanting curses.

"Fuck them up men!" Aria roared gleefully as she curb stomped a sun who was trying to get up. She ground her heels into the back of his head for good measure. "What's the rule of Omega!"

"Don't fuck with Aria!" Her men replied in unison, morale soaring into the air. The charge gave them their foothold in the battle, and for the first time since the explosion, the mercs were slowly reeling back.

"Damn right!" Aria said as she stood atop a table victoriously. "A hundred thousand creds to the one who brings me Miller's hea- oomph!"

There was a snap of gunfire in the air as a bullet went through Aria's heart. Or it **would have, **had Thane not tackled her out of the way of the bullet's trajectory, safe and sound. "Are you unhurt?" He asked her as he held her in his arms.

"Shepard's drell huh? Hands off!" She said as she got out of his hold, dusting herself off. "And thanks, touch me like that again and I'll kill you."

But Thane wasn't listening to her; instead, he was looking at the direction of the shooter. Aria raised an eyebrow and turned to see what he was looking at. A Blue Sun was slowly walking towards them in the chaos, shouldering the culprit sniper rifle. A grinning helmet stared right back at them.

It was the merc with the detonator.

"Dear, sweet Aria… Did you find a new boyfriend in fish face over there?" the man said, his voice making her bristle with rage. "You really should've put out for me when you could." He stopped, still a great deal of space between them. "It's a shame to waste a fine pair of tits."

Thane was cool and calculated, but the tone in Aria's voice still sent a chill up his spine. He could not remember the last time that happened.

"_Miller._"

And then she rushed him.


	15. Man of War

Chapter 15: Man of War

* * *

><p>Joker was somber as he made his way out of the armory and hurriedly went towards the cockpit, maneuvering through the urgent hustle and bustle of the crew, the remnants of sleep interrupted still on his face. The blast shutters were all up but that didn't make him feel any less anxious. He wasn't anxious for his safety mind you. It was for a friend. EDI's direct interface went off-line roughly about 10 minutes ago, just as the Eclipse begun their siege of the Normandy.<p>

Sitting down on his pilot chair, it already felt wrong that her nagging voice wasn't there to greet him. The holo console was functional but none of the commands would pull through, stuck in a frozen state due to the cyberwarfare happening around them. Comms, controls, all busted, with EDI diverting what she could spare to safeguard life-support and the basic systems at least. Setting aside the assault rifle he got from the armory, he crossed his arms and waited. EDI will come through, he told himself. And when she does, he'll show them that nobody messes with his girl.

His ship, he corrected himself, the Normandy. Man, where did _that_ come from?

Nobody messes with the Normandy. Not the Geth, not the Collectors, nor the goddamn Reapers. Least of all a bunch of pencil-necked techno-thugs. Oh he'll show them alright, he'll show them with both Thanix cannons at full power. Fuck this shipyard, all of those bastards are getting spaced once he can get the weapons suite online again.

His eyes wandered to where EDI would usually project her avatar, his foot tapping the floor impatiently. "Come on… Come on…" She'll pull through.

She has to.

* * *

><p>The armory was a bustle of activity as the crew scrambled to get weapons. The Collector abduction was still fresh in everybody's minds. Well, in the ones who hadn't blocked the memory out anyway. There was a general unspoken consensus in light of this: Never the fuck again.<p>

Ken grabbed an assault rifle and tested the weight. He wasn't a soldier, hell none of them were, but they'd all gone through basic fire training. It still didn't help the pit in his stomach. Next to him, Gabby was trying out a heavy pistol, being realistic enough to know she couldn't possibly handle the kick of any of the other weapons. She glanced at Ken's face and noticed the expression he had. He was only this serious looking when… Well, he wasn't exactly serious looking at any other time.

"Well…" She began, aiming down the sights of the gun, "If this is what it takes to shut you up, I'd rather you kept babbling Ken."

Ken suddenly jerked his head at the sound of his name and looked at Gabby, who was smiling at him. He smiled back, laughing quietly. "Well Gabby, if you missed my dulcet tones so much, all you had to do was ask."

"Let's not get carried away here…" Gabby said with a smirk, before snapping. "Now move! Double time! The damn Eclipse are practically knocking on our front door, doofus!"

"Aye-Aye!" Ken replied with amusement.

Gabby punched him playfully in the arm.

The door opened and Grunt strode in, the hangover going over quickly thanks to his krogan regeneration. Not quick enough though as he rubbed his head and scowled at all the people in the armory. "Well _this_ is a good idea." He said, walking over to a weapons rack and pulling out a claymore. "It's on par with handing out knives to little children."

Ken arched an eyebrow as the krogan loaded the weapon. "Aren't you just a couple of months old?"

"You're a couple of seconds from dead if you don't shut it, grease-monkey."

Ken's well thought out retort was garbled when Gabby clamped his lips with the palm of her hand. "Play nice, boys." She said. "Save it for the Eclipse."

"Whatever, just get in gear." Grunt replied as he stored the claymore on his back and pulled out a vindicator assault rifle. "And hope Garrus can get his head into the game."

Meanwhile, Kelly was busy trying to figure out a shuriken SMG when she accidentally activated something on the wall. She squeaked in surprise as the panels pulled back to reveal the 3 remaining sets of assault trooper armor hanging on the rack. "Uh, guys?" She began nervously, "I think I found something we could use."

Ken walked over, whistling as he inspected the armor. "Now we're cooking with fire." He began. "I got dibs on this one!"

* * *

><p>He was a turian, a soldier not just by profession but by birth. So when the proverbial shit hit the fan, with Shepard and Miranda not around to clean up, the chain of command went to him. He didn't even know what his official station was! He always thought he was just the gunnery chief and token turian crew mate. But he knew that he was responsible for this.<p>

Garrus cringed as he snapped on the last few pieces of his heavy armor, his wounds still tender. It wasn't bothering him, truth be told; pain came with the job. His father had always said every soldier was going to get shot sometime or another in their life, and if they didn't, they must be doing something wrong. He picked up his sniper rifle and checked its specs, putting it on his back once he was satisfied. No, it wasn't the pain that was making his guts turn. It was the idea of taking command. He picked up his visor and ran a talon gently over the names carved onto its frame.

Erash.

Monteague.

Mierin.

Grundan Krul.

Melanis.

Ripper.

Sensat.

Vortash.

Butler.

Weaver.

Sidonis.

His hand stopped on the last name, scratched out long ago. It evoked feelings from him, he didn't know what kind; just that none of them were any good. He couldn't forgive Sidonis, but he couldn't kill him either. Was this really as good as it gets? Maybe… He guessed he could be at peace with that, at least to let the spirits of his brothers-at-arms finally rest.

He had vouched for this place, for Ban'Torvias, when they were looking over shipyards to dock in. He had assured them and put the crew at ease. He told Shepard to trust him on this one. And now it came back biting them in the ass. This was his mess, his responsibility to get the crew out alive.

Garrus closed his eyes, holding the visor solemnly for a moment. He wasn't religious in the least, but it just seemed proper. Attaching the device onto his face, it hummed to life and projected it's HUD, synching up with his armor's CPU. "Wish me luck guys…" He whispered as he turned to walk towards the door. "Let's all hope this turns out better than last time."

There were a lot of things on his now pressing to-do-list, currently streaming on his visor, and he walked brusquely through the crew level. First things first though, he needed to check on the AI core. Kelly had told him that with nobody able to find Tali, Legion was trying to fix EDI's problem himself. Come to think of it, only EDI knew where Tali was at this point. Great. The doors to the med-bay opened, and the first thing that met him was Chakwas' disapproving glare.

"I see you're up and about, Mr. Vakarian." She said coldly. "And I see you've rid yourself of your IV."

"Doctor." Garrus greeted her, scratching the back of his neck, a sheepish smirk on his face. "I'm sorry, but things kind of got… out of hand.

"So I'm led to believe." Chakwas merely held the bridge of her nose, muttering something under her breath before speaking again. "Just… Just go. I'll be here to heal you up afterwards." She stepped aside, rolling her eyes and let Garrus through unimpeded towards the AI core. "_As per usual_."

The automatic doors slid open, and he found Legion standing motionless, several cables from his body interfaced with the nearest console in the AI core. "Garrus." It said, perking up as Garrus strode in. "We are hard pressed in countering the cyber-attacks of the Eclipse, but we are holding our own."

"Good to hear," Garrus replied, walking up to him. "Spare me the tech jargon and give it to me straight, Legion. How's EDI?"

"EDI is diverting her full attention towards the situation." It began. "The viruses that the Eclipse are using are state of the art and unique; as if coded just to bring EDI down. There is only one possible conclusion."

"The Eclipse are working for Cerberus…" Garrus said in a hush tone, realization dawning upon him. Up 'til now, he had been thinking that the Eclipse was somehow able to ID him during that fiasco a couple of days ago. He felt a small trickle of relief to know that this wasn't _entirely_ his fault. "Well _that_ was about to bite us in the ass eventually, so we should've seen this coming. How long do you need to get the Normandy up and running?"

"Inconclusive."

"Inconclusive?"

"EDI would have been completely overtaken by now, but Cerberus did not expect to deal with Geth in the system." It began, "But the virus strain, it… learns at an alarming rate. Every method we use to purge existing ones makes the next wave resistant to similar methods. Attempts to counter-hack Eclipse software proves ineffective. Conclusion, full systems shutdown inevitable after 2604 minutes, 24 seconds and counting."

"That's a very long time…"Garrus scratched his scar as he mused deep in thought. He refused to believe any situation was hopeless, least of all this one. Come to think of it, the Eclipse could have torn through the airlock anytime they wanted. Why were they holding back, relying solely on tech? Surely any collateral they inflict on the ship could easily be repaired.

Unless they weren't holding back at all…

"Son of a bitch!" Garrus blurted out, running for the maintenance ladder at the corner of the room.

"Query:'son of a bitch'?"

"Give me a ship-wide alert, Legion! I need defenses down at the shuttle bay, now!" With that, he hopped unto the ladder and made his way down.

"Ah! We comprehend now." Legion called after him, "Copy that, transmitting PSA. Attention all hands, this is an emergency broadcast…!"

* * *

><p>"Move, people!" Grunt ordered as he strode into the elevator, assault rifle in hand. "I've been itching for a damn fight!" He looked at Samara and Jack, urging them to hurry. "Come on!"<p>

Samara only arched an eyebrow at him as she stepped in while Jack leaned in to whisper something in the justicar's ear.

"Krogan hangovers." She whispered as she and Samara watched Grunt practically shake in place, scowling as he mumbled to himself. "I heard the best way to get rid of one was to smash somebody's skull in. If the fucker doesn't shut up soon, I might to smash _his_ skull in."

"Indeed." Samara replied non-chalantly, taking out her assault rifle and checking its specs. "We will need a number of people to effectively help us defend the shuttle bay." She turned to look at the crew who had assembled at the CIC. "Are there any volunteers?"

Jack stepped up next to her, scratching her chin. "I have a better idea…" she began, and then called out to three specific people in the crowd. "Donnelly! Matthews! Hadley! Let's baptize that fancy new gear you got on you in blood and fire, hmmm?"

* * *

><p>The maintenance shafts were the long route towards his destination, but he needed to keep the lift free for the others. After two years of fighting guerilla battles on Omega, the cramp spaces and sudden drops of these shafts were no impediments to him whatsoever, and he advanced in a quick pace. After a couple of minutes of crouching, sliding and sprinting, only a vent grill stood in the way of his destination. He introduced it to his boot and jumped out, finding himself next to the lift.<p>

"Hmm, still picking people up at the CIC…" he mused as he observed the lift's controls. He took position and surveyed the cluttered shuttle bay. "Well everything seems to be in order down here… Maybe I jumped th-…?" The words trailed away in his mouth as he caught a whiff of burning metal.

The hiss of welding and the biting smell of ozone filled the air and a moment later, a beam of plasma shot up from the floor on the far side of the shuttle bay. The armor plating on the ventral section of the ship was to be one of the last things reinstalled. This was to make it easier for the crew to work on and reinforce the inner structures. It also made that part of the ship the most vulnerable. The beam started to move in an arc, no doubt to carve out an opening for the Eclipse.

Garrus rushed for cover, whipping out his sniper rifle and cursing under his breath. The engineers were going to just _love_ this turn of events. Lucky for him, reinforcements would arrive any second now. They would have the advantage of position and the element of surprise, and the Eclipse won't know what hit them.

"Whoever's in that elevator, prepare to come in hot!" he said through his comm. "Eclipse are trying to breech the hull!"

"Ready and waiting!" Grunt replied. "Samara, Jack and a bunch of the mooks are with me! We'll be there in a couple of clicks."

Ken's voice chimed in. "Hey! I take offense to that! I'm an _elite_ mook."

"Quiet you!" Grunt barked back. "Almost there, Garrus."

Suddenly, there was a loud spark of electricity behind him, and Garrus looked over to find that the elevators holo panel fizzled out, smoke coming from its consoles. That _cannot_ be a good thing. "Stat-rep!" he barked through the comm.

He heard Grunt cursing in the background, and the audible thumps of what could no doubt be him trying to headbutt the door. It was another moment before Samara replied. "Garrus, something has happened to the elevator." She spoke in her serene, matter-of-fact tone. The thumping continued in the background, and Garrus heard Grunt roar. "It appears we are stuck."

"What?" A precious few moments passed as Garrus digested the situation in his head, he opened up another frequency. "Legion, the hell is wrong with the elevator?"

"Apologies, we had to re-route data overload away from life-support. The resulting collateral damage was inevitable." Legion replied. "Remote reactivation of lift systems impossible at the moment. Suggested course of action: manual override of controls."

"Did everybody get that?" Garrus asked the crew on the elevator.

It was Ken's voice that answered him through the comm now. "I'm no electrician, but I can work my way around a simple circuit. Just hang on for a bit!" The thumping still continued in the background, Grunt cursing out loud with every strike. "For the love of- Somebody, please _handle_ him, thank you." He said exasperatedly. "Garrus! Just hold on!"

The comm was cut off, and Garrus was left there, crouched behind a console, a dumbstruck expression on his face as the beam in the background continued to curve into a half-circle. This was turning out to be another long day in a series of very long days.

Propping his rifle up on top of the console, he slowed his breathing and watched the progress of the beam. He asked himself with a mirthful grin. The beam was nearly finished, and he could still hear the distant thumping of krogan skull on metal. It looks like he was going to be on his own for the first wave of Eclipse. Outnumbered and out gunned, he only had the element of surprise and superior position to aid him. Now why did that sound so familiar?

Flipping the safety off, his finger gingerly resting on the trigger, Garrus took a deep breath as he went over his game-plan and weighed his chances of surviving. It would be standard procedure for over watch; Fire a concussive round then hit the heavies first, then anybody who looks like they're giving orders, then pick off the rest. Oh, and the Eclipse would also be using mechs, he'd have to compensate for that. He flicked a switch and a holo projection on the side of his rifle depicted that he was now using armor-piercing rounds.

The beam had almost gone full circle, and there was a loud sound of metal creaking against metal. Any second now…

"Sup?" a voice to his left piped up all of a sudden.

Garrus tensed as he let go of his rifle. One hand swiftly pinned the owner of the voice against the console while the other one was already reaching for his combat knife. He saw a now familiar pair of lips curl up into a smirk. "Kasumi! Spirit's woman, don't sneak up on me like that! I could've hurt you!"

"Yeah, uh, no." Kasumi replied with an amused tone, waggling her eyebrows as her eyes looked down towards his chest.

Garrus followed her gaze to see that her heavy pistol was pressed against the seam where his chest plate and abdominal armor met. "Oh."

"Check-mate, _top predator_."

"Indeed…" Garrus mused. "Wait, how did you get down here anyway?"

"Maintenance shafts; just a force of habit, really." She replied casually, eyes gleaming underneath her hood. "Never did like taking the elevator, not many points of entry and exit." She looked at the lift behind Garrus. "That and they prove to be quite a hassle when they get hacked." This was punctuated by a rather audible thump and a distant krogan roar. "Yikes."

"Tell me about it." Garrus said, still fixated on the gun pressed against his chest. Not that he ever doubted Kasumi's prowess before, but he was impressed. She only had a split second window before Garrus could grab his knife and she _still_ beat him to it. "Nice moves."

"Um, Garrus?" Kasumi cleared her throat, making Garrus look back up towards her still smirking face. It was redder than usual he noticed, her eyes trying not to stare into his. "If you touch me there any longer, I may start charging you."

"Huh?" This was the point where Garrus' eyes widened, realizing just _where_ he was pressing Kasumi against the console. It was soft and squishy. He also realized how close together they were. Her face was only inches apart from his. Her lips were a nice shade of pink. They were soft when they pressed against his mandibles, he remembered. And her scent… It was just too much for a man to bear.

Kasumi's smirk slowly faded as she looked into Garrus' eyes. It was as if something was coming over her. He was so strong, she thought, able to subdue her with just one hand. Not to mention that _look_ he gave her; so dominant and self-assured, even when she had the upper hand. Her heart skipped a beat and she gulped. It was the look predators gave their prey before they were about to strike.

He unconsciously started to lean in closer to her. Wait, Garrus told himself. Damn it, what was wrong with him? He needed to focus on the situation at hand, not whatever this is. "Sorry!" He blurted out, taking his hand of off her chest as if it was a smoldering hot surface. "Sorry." He repeated in a softer voice. Seriously though, what was wrong with him?

"Don't- ah, don't worry about it…" Kasumi manage to say, still blushing, putting a hand on her chest. Why was her heart beating so fast? It wasn't because she was scared, right? She realized she was still holding the gun against him. "Oh, right…" she said as she put the gun away. "Sorry."

"No worries, it's not the first time a pretty lady showed me her guns up close." He had the urge to face-palm then and there. Spirits he did not just say that out loud, he thought.

"Well I don't show my guns up close to just any guy, I'll have you know." She replied without thinking, realizing the unconscious innuendo the moment she said it. Maybe if she closed her eyes and opened them again, this would have all been a very awkward nightmare. She did just that, only to find herself still looking at Garrus. Oh god, she thought, this was really happening.

Garrus cleared his throat and backed away from her. His hearing picked up the thumping of her heart. Shit, he didn't mean to embarrass her. "Um…"

"Er…"

"Ehe…"

"Hehe…"

They both laughed awkwardly at the same time. Both of them were practically pleading for a way out of this situation.

Garrus looked over their cover just in time to see the beam about to complete the circle. Oh yeah, that whole being invaded by the Eclipse thing. Thank the spirits. Getting back up to his gun, he watched as the section of the floor slowly started to sink. There was a wail of metal grinding on metal and the circular bit of floor finally fell with a resounding crash, a cacophony of sound streaming in from the other side of the resulting hole. Voices barking orders, guns cocking, and armored boots stomping on the cold steel floor came pouring in from outside.

Kasumi propped up beside him, letting out a low whistle. "Sounds like we got a hell of a party heading our way."

"More like a riot." Garrus replied, then opening his comm, "We got a hull breach over here! What's your status, Donelly?"

"I won't bore you with the tech, but I'm trying to re-route the overload and slaving the program into the secondary processors which could-"

Jack butted in, "Poindexter hear said it'll take another 5 minutes."

"Brilliant." Garrus replied, then turning to Kasumi. "Anything you can do on our end?"

Kasumi looked over her shoulder to the control panel, which was still smoking and casting sparks every other second. "I can't exactly pick a lock without a keyhole." She conceded.

"Fair point." The sounds from outside seemed to be getting closer. He tapped his comm again. "We'll hold them off for as long as we can, just be prepared to come in hot."

"Who's 'we'? I thought you went down there by yourself." Ken asked.

"Kasumi took the same way I did."

Jack replied this time, her voice split between curiosity and mischief. "You don't say? Try not to watch her six too eagerly, Garrus. And try to be a gentleman this time, eh?"

"Now's not the time nor the place, Jack." Garrus answered back testily before cutting off the comm.

Kasumi blinked, "What does she mean by 'this time'?"

Garrus sighed as he cocked his viper. "One complicated problem at a time, Kasumi."

"Uh-huh…" she replied in a suspicious tone. She then perked up as she remembered something. "By the way, I brought you something neat." She said, pulling out a massive sniper rifle from behind her.

"Is that… Legion's widow?" He blinked. "Did you just steal that?"

"_Borrowed_." She corrected, smirking as her eyes gleamed under her hood. Garrus was beginning to wonder if that was his imagination or if they really did gleam. "Well it's not like he's going to be using it anytime soon." She said as she offered it to him. "Trade you?"

"Neat." He said as they exchanged rifles, handing over his viper for the bigger gun. "Are you a crack shot?"

"Only one way to find out." She replied with a wry grin.

"Can't fault your eagerness." He said as he set the gun to armor piercing rounds and peered through it's scope. "Do you have night-vision?"

"Please, remember who you're talking too."

"Wonderful." He flicked open his comm again. "Legion, kill the lights."

* * *

><p>"Lessa, the hull has been breached and the stage is yours…" Tarrana Ionet, Commander of the Omega Eclipse said musically over the comm. "Do me proud, darling."<p>

"Yes, my lady." Lessa Karr replied before her commander cut off the comm. She eyed the Eclipse troops and mechs lined before her, inspecting them as they got into formation underneath the hole in the Normandy's hull. Her days as an asari commando made her prime material for command during assault raids. Not only that but she was a wizard when it came to tech. As a result, she quickly rose into the ranks of the Eclipse as a lieutenant. "Alright boys and girls, let's go over this one more time!" she said as she paced in front of her unit, hands clasped behind her back. "We will be taking the ship from the inside out!" a Loki mech stepped forward and projected a holo of the ships layout next to her. "We will establish a perimeter here in the shuttle bay! From there, we will begin a series of assaults to push further into the ship! Fairly straight forward but effective!" She looked behind her to see a massive service lift procured from the previous owners of the shipyard sidle up next to them. "Here's our ride. Shock troopers! 1st and 2nd squadrons! We're going up first, move out!"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" they replied in chorus.

Over two dozen mercenaries and mechs stepped forward, hopping onto the massive lift and checking their equipment as they awaited deployment. They were bristling with weaponry, carrying assault turrets and defensive cover nodes on their backs.

Lessa glowed with biotic energy and leapt high into the air, landing into the middle of the group with ease. With a wave of her omnitool, her tech armor came to life around her, surrounding her with the protective translucent panels of energy. Taking out her weapon, a mattock assault rifle, she flicked off the safety and smiled. This was going to be a piece of cake. "Alright! Send us up!" With a hiss of hydraulics, the lift slowly ascended with its payload of mercenaries. "The rest of you!" she called down towards the remaining Eclipse. "Get ready! Advance by order of battle groups!"

"Ma'am, yes ma'am!" they called back.

Soon, Lessa's boarding party was engulfed by the blackness of the Normandy's shuttle bay as the lift came to a halt. "Hmm, the overload must've killed some of the generators…" she mused. "Alright, switch to night-vision! Set up the perimeter!" She and her men scampered off the lift before it descended again to retrieve the next wave of mercs. Just as she thought, this was going to be a piece of cake.

Her night-vision turned on just in time to see a small cylindrical object flying into the air above them. "Fuck all kinds of-!"

The flash bang grenade detonated, engulfing the darkness in a sea of sound and blinding white light. And with their night visions on, the effects of the flash on the Eclipse was multiplied by a hundredfold. Even the video receptors of the mechs were momentarily scrambled.

* * *

><p>Garrus popped up from behind the console, bringing the widow heavy sniper rifle to bear. He waited for the flash to dissipate before activating his own night-vision. The Eclipse were all squirming and screaming in pain as they clutched their eyes, their mechs whipping to and fro confused.<p>

Fish in a barrel.

Scoping out a target, he pulled the trigger and a mech torso shattered, the round going through it with ease as it proceeded to blow off the arm of the merc behind it, and shatter the skull of the merc behind that one. He pulled the slide and the spent thermal clip popped out, slamming in a fresh one before taking aim once more. Another pull of the trigger and several more dead bodies littered the floor in pieces. He may just have to buy one of these rifles for himself, he thought.

Next to him, Kasumi was unloading with the viper, taking several shots each before tagging a kill. Fortunately, the gun's extended ammo capacity more than compensated for her inexperience. "This is harder than it looks!" she said, reloading after a dismal attempt at a headshot.

"I'm sorry I make it look _too easy_." Garrus grinned as he pulled the trigger, netting several headshots from several hapless mercs and mechs who happened to fumble into a straight row. "It's a gift, really."

"Oh dear, Garrus' ego is showing." She said as she set the rifle aside and pulled out her locust SMG. "What a shocker."

"Don't let it intimidate you too much. Deep down, I'm a really sensitive guy." He said while reloading. "Be ready, there's bound to be more coming up."

"Heh, I have enough thermal clips to last us for days." Kasumi replied before unloading into the crowd of Eclipse.

"A girl after my own heart." He said before he could stop himself. Did he really just say that? Shit.

"What was that?" she asked, "Couldn't hear you properly, the widow's been making my ears ring."

"Ah…" Garrus said as relief washed over him. "I said you're pretty good with that thing."

"Well duh, it's just point and click, silly." She said as she did just that, showering a mech in thermal rounds.

* * *

><p>Lessa gritted her teeth as she crawled blindly on the floor, past the pieces of the dead and broken. Her vision was reduced to a curtain of stainless white but the ringing in her ears was slowly subsiding. The cry of her dying men wasn't the best of alternatives to hearing loss. "This is Lessa!" she barked desperately in her comm, "Send up the Ymirs!"<p>

"What's going on up there!" a distraught voice replied. "There are screams and gunshots and…!"

"Did you fucking hear me you daft moron?" she screamed as a freshly dead body collapsed on top of her. "SEND UP THE YMIRS!"

Below, the support crew quickly shooed off the next group of mercs from the platform and herded three Ymir heavy mechs onto it. A salarian sergeant signaled the okay and they began to ascend towards the Normandy.

* * *

><p>Garrus pulled the trigger again, making a salarian torso explode like an over ripe fruit. The mercs had scattered a bit now and started to fire blindly in every direction. More shots were killing off their own comrades then they were even aimed at Garrus' general direction.<p>

Kasumi had whipped out her heavy pistol as she dual wielded to unload more shots into the hapless mercs. She almost felt sorry for them. Almost. "Bring back any memories?" she asked Garrus as she reloaded.

"Hmm?" Garrus asked as he shot a hole in an asari's chest. "What do you mean?"

"Of your time here in Omega." She clarified.

He was quiet for a while, reloading the widow. "Yeah…" he said, taking aim once more. "Some good ones." He said, pulling the trigger. "Mostly bad."

"I heard about your squad… I'm sorry." She replied, instantly regretting the question. "I know how much loss hurts."

"Yeah..." Garrus nodded. "I'm sorry, too."

She chewed on her lip. This was not the place, nor the time, but fuck social norms. "Hey, If you ever want to talk about it…"

Garrus looked at her, and she turned away. He knew enough about women to recognize one who was nursing a deep scar. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently, causing her to look back at him. "Later." He said, flashing Kasumi a quick smile.

She smiled back and turned to look at the fray. "Oh, looks like we got some new guests to the party." She said, pulling out another flashbang. "Good thing I brought a lot of party favors."

"Wait…" Garrus said as he looked through the scope. "Ah hell…"

"What?"

"Ymirs."

The massive mechs slowly rose up from the hole, lumbering onto the shuttle bay and crushing the dead underfoot as they walked. Garrus fired a shot at one, only to have it's shields shimmer as it took the brunt of the damage and give away his position. The three Ymirs leveled their rocket launchers in their direction.

Kasumi cursed under her breath. "Mother fuckeeeeeeeeee-" Her curse turned into a shriek as Garrus bodily grabbed her and slung her over his shoulder, running out of cover and out of the way as three rockets hurdled across the shuttle bay and sending their cover up in flames.

"Shit, we're going to have to kite them!" Garrus said as he got behind a storage crate. He put Kasumi down and brought out the widow once more. "I need a fresh clip." He said, holding out his palm expectantly.

Kasumi looked at him, then towards the now flaming ruins of the console. "Yeah, about that…" She began, clicking her tongue. "I left all of the clips over there."

"You what?"

"Well I couldn't actually grab anything with you slinging me over your shoulders like a bag of potatoes!"

"Well excuse me for saving your life!"

"Argh!" Kasumi growled at him, then stopping as she reached a realization. "I could take some from the Eclipse! Wait right here!"

"Kasumi!" Garrus tried to stop her, but she had already gone invisible. Stowing away the widow, he pulled out his assault rifle and peaked out of cover. He opened his comm again. "Kenneth, it's been more than 5 minutes! What's taking you so long!"

"Almost there!"

"Be advised we have three Ymirs in the shuttle bay!"

"Almost there!" Ken repeated.

Garrus growled as he turned off the comm, the mechs still looking for them. He couldn't risk an assault knowing that Kasumi might be caught in the crossfire. He just had to wait and pray.

* * *

><p>Lessa staggered to her feet as she slowly regained her vision. She could make out movement and shapes now. That was a stark improvement to her current predicament. She heard the arrival of the Ymirs, and after that huge explosion, the sniper fire had stopped. Okay, this was a disastrous start, but she could still turn this around. "Send up the next squadron, bring medics." She said as she sat up against a storage crate. Even in the darkness, color was returning to her, and she could make out the dead around her feet. These bastards were going to die for this, she thought, every single fucking crewman on this ship. Suddenly, she noticed something odd. Was that thermal clip floating? "Cloaking…" she mumbled, staggering back onto her feet as she brought up her gun as she saw the warped image against the bodies of her dead men. She punched in the shimmering silhouettes direction and a neural shock blasted from her omnitool.<p>

* * *

><p>Kasumi screamed in pain as electricity ran through her body, bringing her down to her knees. She saw a pair of legs striding to her direction. Casting her gaze upwards, she saw it was an asari holding an assault rifle looking pissed as hell. She tried to raise her gun, but found that she couldn't even move a finger.<p>

Garrus had swung out of cover the moment he heard Kasumi scream, bringing his gun to bear. "Kasumi!" he caught sight of her kneeling as an asari walked up to her. Before he could get a shot off, one of the Ymirs saw him and opened fire with it's heavy machine gun. "Fuck!" he roared as he rolled out of the way, a few shots tagging him but failed to penetrate his shields and armor. All three mechs converged on his position and he retreated behind the storage crate. He tried dashing out of cover but the moment he'd expose himself, gunfire would pepper the area. He was pinned down. "Kasumi!" he yelled over the din of the gun fire. No, not this again, he thought. Spirits please, don't let them take her too.

The asari drew her leg back and kicked Kasumi in the side of her head, sending her sprawling on the blood soaked floor. "You bitch…" Lessa hissed as she kicked the downed woman in the gut. "Your friend is too busy being killed right now." She said as she kicked again. "Too bad, 'cause I'm going to make a show out of killing you…"

Her hands glowed and she levitated Kasumi off the floor, only to slam her down hard. Again. And again. And again. Until Lessa tossed her violently at a storage crate like a rag doll.

Kasumi slumped against one of the many storage crates around them, and could only watch in horror as Lessa raised her rifle, aiming it at her face. "Keiji…" she murmured as tears welled up in her eyes. At least they'd be together again.

Bang.

Blood splattered on Kasumi's face.

It was strange, she thought, death didn't feel any different. Looking up past the barrel of the assault rifle to her shooter's face, she noticed there was something strange about her eyes. They seemed lifeless. She heard a gun cock behind the asari, and a second gunshot sent more blood splattering down on her. The asari staggered, before falling into a crumpled heap next to Kasumi, revealing Tali standing behind where she was, pumping her shotgun.

"Nobody touches my friends, you filthy bosh'tet." Tali announced to the asari's corpse, before approaching Kasumi and offering a hand to help her up. "Are you alright?" she said, voice full of concern.

"Ta-Tali?" she said, not able to believe her eyes as she grabbed the quarian's hand, staggering back onto her feet. "How-? Where did you come from?"

Tali pointed with her thumb over her shoulder to a recently opened storage crate behind her. "I've been laying low in there for a while," she began, "Last thing I remember was the whole Normandy shaking and I hit my head. I opened my eyes and next thing I know, there was a firefight happening right outside my damn secret workshop."

Kasumi had a lot of questions, but something urgent came pushing past all of that. "Garrus!" she said, whipping around to where the Ymir's had cornered him. "We have to help him!"

"On it!" Tali said as she brought up her omnitool.

"We have to do something, quick!" Kasumi said, trying to run but the effects of the neural shock dampening her movements. "Shit…"

"Don't worry," Tali replied, "Nobody's faster than Chiktikka vas Paus." With that, an orange combat drone shot out from her omnitool and raced towards one of the Ymir's. "Aim for the optics, Chiktikka!"

Kasumi wondered what a small combat drone could do, but she could only watch helplessly and believe in Tali.

Chiktikka broke past the shields of the Ymir and floated in front of it's optics. Before the Ymir could react, the combat drone flashed and sent a pulse of electricity exploding around it. Stunned, the Ymir's shields were knocked out, leaving it wide open for hacking.

Tali typed furiously into her omnitool, bypassing the Ymir's firewalls and getting into it's IFF. "Got it." She said triumphantly as she pressed enter.

The Ymir deactivated for a moment, before reactivating once more and looking at its two comrades who were still firing away at Garrus' cover. Activating it's weapon systems, it unloaded it's payload from behind. Oblivious to the hacked Ymir's treachery, the two other were helpless as they were bombarded with rockets and gun fire. It didn't take long for their shields to shatter and receive the full brunt of the assault. The two mechs exploded, leaving only the hacked one still standing.

Kasumi's jaw dropped at the scene. "Wow…" she said, it being the only word she could find to describe this situation. "Wait, there are more coming…" she continued urgently, looking at the breach in the hull.

"Oh I don't know…" Tali said as she made the Ymir lumber towards the hole. "You never know what life could drop into your lap at any moment." The Ymir teetered over the edge, before belly flopping down. An explosion from outside followed soon after. "Like so." Tali said grimly.

"Yeah, um, wow." Kasumi said as she looked over her friend. "Guess you're the tech expert for a reason, huh?" she winced as the pain from her thrashing slowly started to take it's toll on her body. "Ouch…"

"Easy…" Tali said as she rushed to her side and slowly eased the other woman to the floor, putting her head on her lap. "Keelah, you're hurt bad."

"Kasumi!" Garrus yelled urgently as he ran towards them, gun drawn. "I saw the two Ymirs explode and the third one jump down. How'd you manage to- Tali!"

"I'll explain later. She needs medical attention, Garrus!" She said as Garrus knelt beside them. "Until then, do you have medigel on you?"

"On it!" He said as he set aside his gun and applied liberal amounts of medigel onto Kasumi.

Kasumi's face winced, and then she opened her eyes, seeing Tali and Garrus looking down on her. "Oh. Hi." She said, focusing on Garrus.

"Hello yourself." Garrus replied, relief apparent in his voice.

Tali looked between the two of them, thanking the ancestors that her visor obscured her expression. Oh boy, was her women's intuition kicking in.

The moment was interrupted when the elevator doors finally opened and Grunt came storming out, with Jack, Samara and three men in Cerberus assault armor close on his heels.

"Eh?" Grunt said as he surveyed the gory battlefield. "Damn it Garrus, you didn't save me any!"

Garrus could only face palm as Kasumi sniggered.

Tali arched an eyebrow. "Can somebody _please_ tell me what the hell is going on?"


	16. Heavy is The Head

Chapter 15: Heavy is the Head

For all of its pleasures and intoxications, the Afterlife wasn't just a mere bar or club. It was the capital of Omega, the palace of the queen. Hell, Aria wasn't picky; you could call her anything you like. Boss, CEO, Chairman of the Board, that cold hearted bitch, and so on and so forth, it was all the same to her. So long as at the end of the day, you understood that she was in charge. And if you didn't, well, you'd find yourself quickly removed from Omega.

Usually via the airlocks.

In pieces.

The pieces they could find, anyway.

See, Omega wasn't just a place, Omega was Aria. Now when this two-bit mercenary decided to raise his hand against hers, he wasn't just going against Aria. He was going against Omega. That meant war, and Aria was always happy to oblige a man who wanted to die. That man was right in front of her now, and she intended to make good on her obligations. Her hands crackled with biotic power as she rushed him, bringing them forward to send a wave of blue energy thundering towards Miller. "You son of a bitch!" she roared.

The Blue Suns commander smiled underneath his helm as he put away his sniper rifle and boosted high into the air, flipping backwards as the wave passed harmlessly underneath him. Having a jet-pack was handy, he thought. He landed in a crouch, just as Aria fell upon him.

"You're dead!" She said, throwing a wild haymaker.

"I love it when you talk dirty!" He mocked as he dodged it easily. She wasn't about to let up, however.

Aria assaulted him with a chain of punches and kicks that Miller blocked and dodged, steadily walking back as she continued in earnest. She kept the pressure up, and little by little, more and more of her blows seemed to be landing. Sooner or later she'll break through his defenses. Fuck that, she thought as her eyes blazed blue, she'll just power through him. There was a crackle in the air as biotic energy exploded around her, sending Miller flying backwards.

"Not bad… for a woman." Miller said to himself and laughed as he landed on his feet, the thrusters on his back stabilizing his fall. He pulled out dual carnifexes from his hips, idly twirling them in his fingers. She may outclass him in hand to hand combat, but he was in his element in a shoot-out. "Everybody stay out of it!" he announced grimly as several mercs were about to open fire on Aria. "I'm going to deflower this bitch myself, boys!" Bringing both guns to bear, he aimed at her and began pulling the triggers.

Aria crossed her forearms, causing a protective blue barrier to come to life in front of her. "I knew you were stupid, but I didn't think you were _this_ stupid." She narrowed her gaze on him as the shots harmlessly deflected off of the field of energy. "You do know what this means, right Miller?" she said, reaching for her own pistol. "This means every Blue Sun on Omega will be dead within the _day._"

"Don't take it too personally, Aria." Miller replied as he reloaded and set his guns into warp ammo. "Besides, you were on the to-do list long before Shepard came into the equation." He shrugged. "It's just _business_, that's all."

"Really now?" She replied. "I heard being dead was pretty bad for _business_."

"Depends on who's doing the dying." Miller replied as he leveled his guns at her again. "Where is the man of the hour, anyway? The bounty said dead or alive, but I prefer not to have any loose ends."

"You won't have much of anything when I'm through with you" Aria sneered.

"You are so testy… Honestly, when was the last time someone fucked you right?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Hah!" He laughed. "Don't worry; I'll fuck you as you bleed out. And if you're still alive after that, I'll shoot you right in between those pretty eyes."

Aria jumped to the side as the warp rounds tore through her barrier, strafing across the dance floor as she fired back. Miller rolled to dodge and rose to a run, keeping pace with her, alternating his fire between his two guns. The two traded fire; each just narrowly missing the other as they tore up anything that came between them, causing both mercs and pirates to duck as they passed.

"Let's take this upstairs!" Miller yelled over the sound of gunfire as his jet pack boosted him upwards towards the catwalks high above, disappearing into the clouds of smoke that collected in the ceiling.

Aria merely growled as she coiled and pounced up after him, leaving a trail of biotic energy as she too vanished into the air.

* * *

><p>Nearby, Thane sighed as Aria bolted on ahead, taking the Blue Suns commander one on one. He was crouched behind some debris, the battle raging beyond it. Aria was skilled, no doubt, but this Miller worried him. It was the way he had moved, able to keep Thane at bay during his pursuit of Miller earlier. He was brash and showy, he observed, as Miller twirled his guns while he reloaded, but this human had skill. Interrupting them now could prove fatal, so he'd just have to bide his time for the right moment to step in. Thane reloaded his SMG as he walked towards the heart of the chaos, keeping track of Aria.<p>

"Shepard, this is Thane." He began, speaking calmly over his comm, "Aria has just engaged the Blue Suns leader. Where are you?"

"Closer than you might think." Shepard replied, "Moving in on your position."

Through the smoke, Thane saw the angled silhouette of what is undoubtedly Cerberus armor before Shepard emerged through its hazy veil. The armor was already riddled with bullet holes and black burn marks. The paint was chipping off in some places and blood splatters covered what dirt and debris didn't. "Thane, are you alright?" he asked him as approached.

The noticeably unscathed Thane smirked a bit. "Are _you_?"

Shepard crouched next to him. "Can't complain." He said as he switched his shotgun out to his assault rifle, eyeing the frenzy nearby and the mess of corpses around them. The fighting was now concentrated around the main hallway going into the Afterlife, with the pirate's berserker charge stymied by a fresh wave of Blue Suns. Both sides were holding their own for now, but a prolonged conflict would only benefit the mercenaries. "Well, looks like we have our work cut out for us."

"It would seem so. This Miller character seems to rile her up." Thane replied.

"He's good?"

"He's _adequate_." Thane corrected, "I do not see why further intervention on our part is necessary, Shepard. We should focus on regrouping with Miranda and returning to the Normandy. This is not our fight."

"This isn't just some shootout, it's probably happening all over Omega…" Shepard began. "This is a war zone, and we're in ground zero. It doesn't matter what kind of person Aria is. If she dies, this entire system may devolve into turmoil from the backlash in the underworld. And this _is_ my fight."

"What do you mean?"

"All this started because of the Cerberus bounty on me. This chaos is on my head, Thane. I can't just leave knowing that."

"Shepard, you need to-." Thane suddenly spun around, aiming his gun at a new comer who was walking up behind them. "Drop the gun."

A batarian pirate put down his rifle and raised his hands submissively. "Easy! I'm with Aria!"

Shepard turned to see who was walking up to them. "Anto!"

"Friend of yours?" Thane asked as he put down his weapon, not recognizing the batarian.

"Long story." Shepard replied. "Thane, please, I need you to keep Aria in one piece."

Thane looked Shepard in the eye for several moments before nodding his head in assertion. "Understood." he said as he stood, looking towards the ceiling. "I shall keep her in my sights and intervene when possible." With that, he disappeared behind the curtain of smoke.

"And good riddance to that, your drell gives me the creeps." Anto added at Thane's departure, picking up his rifle and taking position next to Shepard. "Nice save on the boss, by the way."

Shepard waved off the comment. "Save the pleasantries, what's the situation out there?"

"Oh it's _bad_ out there, Shepard. The bombing here was just the starting pistol." Anto replied. "They hit us everywhere all at once. Every warehouse and front in Omega are swarming with mercs and fighting for their damn lives as we speak. We've nearly lost control of the entire shipyard district and a third of the residential-"

"Wait, wait." Shepard raised a hand to interrupt him. "You've _lost_ the shipyards? The Suns can't have much manpower on Omega!"

"Yeah, well it's not just the Suns; the Eclipse, Blood Pack and a number of small time groups are in on it too." Anto explained. "The shipyards fell to Tarrana Ionet's Eclipse, nasty piece of work, that one. She says she comes from some noble family in Thessia. Don't know how true that is but the boss hates her guts something fierce, that's for sure."

Anto kept talking but Shepard had stopped listening. Instead, he was listening to a louder voice yelling in his head, the one telling him to get his ass moving and get back to the Normandy. His grip on his assault rifle tightened, and his legs just wanted to start running. He just wanted to run back to Tali. Whether they were fighting or not, he didn't know what was going on between them right now. He didn't care. He just knew he wasn't going to lose her again. Not to this.

The only thing keeping him from doing just that was the calmer voice talking beneath the screams of the louder one. It was the voice of the soldier, the rational part of himself that told him it was irresponsible to do that. It told him that he was no use to anybody dead.

Sometimes he hated that part of himself, especially when it was mostly right. The urge to run died down, but his grip was tighter than ever. He needed to give his crew more credit than what he gave them. He had to trust Tali was alright, that everyone back on board the Normandy was alright. They could take care of themselves while he dealt with the here and now. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, slowly immersing himself back to reality just in time for Anto to finish what he was saying.

"Anyway, the boys Aria assigned here are some of the toughest sons of bitches in Omega." Anto declared, as several pirates rushed past them into the front lines. "If we can secure the Afterlife, we'll stand a better chance retaking this district. What's say you give us a hand kicking these bastards out the front door?"

Shepard cocked his rifle. "Let's just get this over with." With that, both of them walked towards the sounds of gunfire and bloodshed. Rushing into the smoke, they broke into a run as bullets started whizzing past them.

Anto growled as he ducked into cover. "Shit, I didn't think they'd push us back this much! What the-? Wait!"

Instead of ducking next to him, Shepard leapt over the overturned tables the pirates used for cover. His feet stomped the ground as he landed, rifle already trained on a target and pulling the trigger. The concussive round fired with a resonating thump, catching a merc in the chest and sending him and those nearby flying backwards. Staring down the barrel of his gun, his eyes searched for any twitch of movement, a quick burst of fire ensuring it didn't move any more. There was no survival instinct at play here. No tactical soundness. It was just a man who wanted to get from point A to point B as quickly as he can, in any way that he can.

Anto and the other pirates could only stare in disbelief as Shepard moved forward, a one man unstoppable wave of violence. He shook his head to snap himself out of awe, turning to the others. "Well? The hell are you all staring at? Go! Go!" He roared, before jumping over the barricade and following after Shepard, the rest close behind.

The battle had now turned into a grand melee as the two sides clashed in close quarters, many using their weapons as clubs for fear of friendly fire. Shepard growled as he unloaded his rifle point blank into a hapless batarian, before striking the still standing corpse out of his way with the butt of his gun. Before the corpse could even fall to the ground, he was already tangling with several other mercs who were quick to join their comrade in the grave. His rifle clicked empty and instead of reloading it, he gripped the barrel and swung it like a bat, cracking the skull of a man in front of him. Tossing the empty gun aside, he pulled out his combat blade from his pack and ducked a wild swing from in front of him. He buried the blade into the turian's gut, cutting through the merc's armor like butter and slashed sideways, spilling his entrails. Getting up, he used the dying turian as a shield as he charged further onwards.

* * *

><p>The lower Afterlife wasn't spared any of the chaos of its counterpart above. On the contrary, those who were there would probably argue they were worst off. If they came out of this alive, that is. Jacob leaned against cover as an endless torrent of gun fire lashed against them. A fresh wave of Blue Suns had managed to set up a perimeter on the bottle neck, using the bodies of their fallen comrades as cover. Macabre as it was, the move proved effective. He lifted his gun out of cover to fire blindly in the enemy's direction, not daring to lift his head. After the mercs had reinforced their point, they had taken to pinning down their position, mostly to hinder Zaeed from using his LMG to the fullest. Jacob tried to contact Shepard through the comm, but his commander wasn't picking up. "Come on, Shepard, don't be dead…" He said as he tried to hail him again to no avail. "Nothing." He said as he gave up for now. Guy must probably be busy, he refused to believe anything here could take the man down.<p>

Next to him, the veteran mercenary lit a cigar and puffed a thick breath of smoke. His casual expression about all this was unnerving at best. The older man cradled his revenant on his lap as he reloaded it, taking his time. "Mmm, nothing beats a Cuban cigar…" he mused, "Well nothing except maybe a Cuban cigar and a bottle of whisky." He took the cigar from his mouth and offered it to Jacob.

"Er… No thanks…" Jacob said, reloading his own weapon. "I didn't know you were such a heavy smoker."

Zaeed took another deep puff. "Nope, I'm not."

"You could've fooled me." Jacob replied, trying to look over the barricade, only to duck back down quickly as bullets ricocheted off the top edge. "So what gives?"

"I just figured that after all we've been through these past couple of months, well what're the odds of me still being alive?" The older man began, taking said cigar out of his mouth. "I'm an old man, most of the people I've known all my life are dead; some of 'em courtesy of me." He paused, taking another drag. "I've seen my share of wars, fought and killed some of the toughest men and women out there, and recently I just went through the Omega relay to kill off the Collectors. After all that, here I am, still alive." His eyes glazed with nostalgia as he said all this. "So I figured why not help fate along?"

Jacob looked at Zaeed, who was calmly taking another drag. "I didn't know you had a death wish." No words were said for a while after that, their cover proving sturdy enough to protect them from endless fire for this long. "Damn, Miranda's taking her sweet time…" The Normandy XO was currently crouching across from them, talking fervently with the several biotics among the pirates. The rest of said pirates were trying their best to contain the surge of Blue Suns to varying degrees of success. All in all, they prevented the Suns from taking a step further into the lounge. There were several wounded ones hiding further back, but so far there were no fatal casualties on their side.

Yet.

"Do you have any regrets, Taylor?" Zaeed suddenly asked him, breaking Jacob's grim trail of thought.

Jacob caught himself unconsciously looking at Miranda's direction. He turned away and leaned back on their cover, pretending to busy himself with his gun. "Now's not really the best time for soul searching, Zaeed."

"Now may be the only time we've got." Zaeed replied.

Jacob turned to look at him, but all Zaeed had on his face was the same mask of casual expression. "Everybody does, I guess." He finally answered.

"Sure we do." Zaeed leaned back, pausing in deep thought before continuing, the occasional shower of sparks coming between them as bullets ricocheted off their cover. "Well let me tell you this, there's only one thing worse than dying with regrets."

A couple moments of silence passed before Jacob egged him on to continue. "… And that is?"

Zaeed turned towards Jacob, giving him a knowing look. "It's growing old with them."

Jacob mulled the thought in his head, and then he laughed. "Considering how we're in a middle of a firefight with bleak chances of survival, I'm just surprised you can bring the mood down even lower."

"Eh, you're right." Zaeed replied. "Must be going soft in my old age. Hold on-" He paused, and then started to yell over the din of gunfire, his voice just barely winning out. "Oi! Sweetheart! Any day now!"

Zaeed's comm beeped, and when he answered it, Miranda's chilly yet professional reply came through. "Zaeed, you have a personal communicator integrated to your omnitool. _Use it_." She said casually. "And on that note, go die in a fire."

"Copy that, sweetheart, over and out." He replied before cutting off the frequency.

Jacob could only stare at the older man with wide eyed amusement. "She is going to _kill you_ if and when we get out of here alive."

"Don't be so negative." Zaeed winked at him conspiratorially. "I was just trying to butter her up for you, Taylor."

"Yeah, go die in a fire." He replied sourly over Zaeed's laughter.

* * *

><p>Miranda clutched the bridge of her nose, muttering something under her breath. As near as the other biotics could tell, she was debating on whether to put an old dog to sleep gently or just take it out back and put two rounds in its head. After a couple of moments, she sighed and said, "As I was saying…" she began, "Digging our way out of this mess could prove fatal, there's simply not enough time." She said, gesturing to the ruined path. "So instead, we're going to do something proactive."<p>

An asari next to her tilted her head in confusion. "Like what? Blasting our way through the Suns? That's suicide!"

Miranda nodded. "Not necessarily." She replied. "Individually, our biotic blasts won't do much good in this situation, but if we work collectively, we can push through past the bottleneck and fight them head on in the lower bar."

"That's your big plan? Rush to our deaths?" a human male next to her piped up. "Listen lady, in case you haven't noticed, they outnumber us by at least 5 to one! Even if we manage to get past the hallway, we'll be overrun! I say we stay here, we've been holding out so far."

"There is no other option; this is the only thing we can do that gives us the highest survival rate. If we stay here, we will die, but out there, we can fight to survive" She looked at the men and women around her. "There will be casualties, but we can minimize that risk if we watch each other's backs."

"So how do we go about this then?"

"First things first, we need to push our way through that hallway towards the lower bar." She began, "Cover will be minimum, and so we will provide barriers and general support for the rest of the group."

"A head on assault?" another asari asked, raising her eyebrow.

Miranda nodded. "It's the last thing they'll expect.'"

"And just what will that accomplish?" another man asked.

"Right now, the suns are fighting a battle on two fronts." Miranda replied, bringing up a diagram of the Afterlife. "If we increase hostilities down here, they'll have to shift the focus of attack from the upper Afterlife to us. Same goes for vice versa." To demonstrate her point, tiny blue avatars were swarming into both points of entry for the upper and lower Afterlife while red avatars filled the interior. "If one side keeps the pressure up for long enough, it will alleviate the burden of the other side. Hopefully long enough for one side to penetrate past their defenses." At this, the red avatars were slowly going forward and destroying the blue ones. "It's not the neatest plan in the galaxy, but desperate times call for desperate measures." She looked at those around her. "We need to show them what happens to people who make us go for desperate measures."

There was a long silence, before one of the asari spoke up, addressing her peers. "This bitch is crazy." She began, causing Miranda to fluster in annoyance, only to see said asari smile at her. "I like her."

One of the men shook his head, "Surrounded by crazy… Fine, fine, you have a point. I'll coordinate with the others, when do we make our move?"

Miranda smiled. "_ASAP_." She flicked open her comms and hailed Jacob. "Sorry for making you wait too long, I trust Zaeed wasn't too much of a hassle."

"Just barely." Jacob replied, relief evident from his voice. "What's the plan?"

She told him.

Jacob rolled his eyes. "Well, it _sounds_ fun, at least."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, aboard the Normandy.<p>

The shuttle bay now teemed with people as Garrus coordinated with everyone to secure the breech. Smoke rose from the hole as a testament to the fiery wreckage below it, giving them some reprieve as the Eclipse struggled to put the blaze out before attempting to board again. It was no small favor that the life support system was able to vent out the smoke before they succumbed to poisoning, too. A number of cargo crates were slowly being maneuvered to at least cover said breech.

In an obscured corner, Kasumi sat down with her back to Mordin as the former stripped off the top of her suit, gingerly keeping the hood on her head.

Jack stood to the side, acting as the female chaperone for her currently topless friend. She stepped closer to get a better look, whistling as she saw the damage done. "You got thrashed around, good." She said in a hushed tone. The pale skin underneath was black and blue from the bruising as Mordin scanned her with his omnitool.

"Should've seen her coming…" Kasumi replied through gritted teeth as Mordin ran a hand across her back, palpating for any odd protrusions. "Let my guard down… If it wasn't for Tali…"

"Stop it. You're alive. Don't dwell on it." Jack said, cutting off Kasumi's train of thought. "How is she, Mordin?"

"No fractures. No injuries to internal organs. Multiple hematomas across the thorax and abdomen. Minor laceration on the lower lip. Suturing, fortunately, not required." Mordin listed off as he applied medigel over her skin. "Painful but negligible." He summarized, producing a length of bandages from his pack and proceeded to wrap it over Kasumi's torso. Afterwards, he stuck a needle into her arm causing Kasumi to squeak in surprise, quickly injecting medication into her bloodstream. "Should be able to provide temporary relief, would suggest avoiding physical strain for the time being. Regretfully, circumstances probably won't allow it." He took a deep breath. "Analgesics and long acting stimulants should do just the trick, however."

"Thanks doc…" Kasumi said through gritted teeth, the painkillers not working fast enough for her liking. "No rest for the wicked, right?"

Jack snickered, "I can vouch for that. Can you walk?"

"I'm hurt, not handicapped." Kasumi replied as she put on the top half of her suit. She had aches in places she didn't realize could ache, and the process was slow and unsteady.

Mordin noticed this and said, "Analgesics should take effect in under half a minute. I'll be taking my leave now; will attempt to look at Garrus again."

"Huh?" She arched an eyebrow, at this. "What's up with Garrus?"

"Minor burns, explosion related. Refused treatment, told me to treat you first." The salarian physician said as he started to walk away, pausing long enough to take a deep breath. "Suspect he has a phobia for needles."

"Typical." She smirked. "Thanks again, doc."

"Duty is its own reward, you're welcome." Mordin said, waving it off and leaving Jack and Kasumi.

Sure enough, Kasumi felt the pain slowly dull and float away, leaving her body just a little bit stiff. Zipping up her suit, she stood back up and pulled the hood a little bit more over her face. What with the hangover and a beating, she was definitely going to feel all this in the morning. "Ugh… Why didn't I just go to sleep last night?"

"Well, I don't know about being well rested, Kasumi, but you seemed to have a lot of… _fun_."

"And I'm paying for it now, apparently." She added, fiddling with the settings on her Locust SMG.

"Oh, you _are_ paying for it." Jack said, waggling her eyebrows. "And I'm not talking about the thrashing."

"I know right, I mean- Wait." She replied, suddenly forgetting about her gun and turning her head in Jack's direction. "What?"

"Let's get back with the others and figure this shit out first." Jack said as she started to walk off. "I'll give you all the… _Juicy_ details later."

"What are you talking about?" Kasumi called out in annoyance, catching up to her friend. "Seriously Jack, what are you hiding?"

"Me? Hiding anything? I don't know…" Jack replied with mock hurt, before grinning sadistically. "Why don't you ask Garrus? Maybe he knows."

"Garrus?" Kasumi tilted her head in confusion. "What about Garrus?"

"What about him indeed?" Jack asserted.

"I hate it when you're being a saucy bitch."

"You and the rest of the galaxy, honey."

The two bantered back and forth as they walked towards the hub in front of the elevator where most of the crew was gathering. Engineers were nearly pulling out their hair as they ran through the logistical nightmare of the hole in the ventral portion of the ship. It was a small blessing that only a small portion of the ship was left unarmored, but it still left The Normandy non-space worthy. Off to the side, Tali had her hands on her hips as Samara wrapped up recounting recent events to her.

"So let me get this straight." Tali began matter-of-factly, arms folding over her chest and dipping her hip. "Shepard got a heavily encrypted message from Aria T'Loak regarding information about Cerberus HQ. He left almost immediately after that with half the squad and no further instructions." She paused as Samara nodded. "Then a few hours after he left, we got hit by the Eclipse and now we're stuck here."

"That is a fair summary of it, yes."

Tali sighed, "Meaning that he's also probably dealing with problems on his end." She began to wonder if hiding was the wrong course of action to take. But she had to hide, for the surprise. She just hoped that the decision was worth it.

Samara's dead pan expression softened at Tali's silence. "He is a capable warrior, Tali'Zorah. I am certain he lives yet."

"I know, but I'm still scared for him, Samara."

"If I may ask, what _were_ you doing down here?"

Tali nodded her head towards a nondescript case at her feet. "Just a little something for Shepard. I'll give it to him _after_ I thrash the hell out of him for walking into an obvious trap, of course."

"Of course." Samara replied with an understanding smirk. Before anything else could be said, Grunt approached them, an urgent look in his eyes. "What's the matter, Grunt?"

The krogan smirked as if Samara just asked him what he wanted for Christmas. "Garrus is gathering the squad. He says it's time for a counter attack."

"Counter attack?" Tali asked as she tilted her head. "How?"

Grunt shrugged. "Don't know. But he'll explain the details himself, now come on."

* * *

><p>The catwalks high above inside the Afterlife were generally reserved for dancers who twisted and gyrated exotically to an intoxicating tempo. But the lights and music were now replaced by chaos and the only dance being danced was the dance of death. The smoke had mostly cleared now as Miller tried in vain to shoot Aria as the frenzied asari rushed towards him in fury, closing the distance between them while practically dodging bullets.<p>

Aria growled as she struck out with a glowing left fist, but Miller easily sidestepped the blow and wrapped his left arm around Aria's elbow. Twirling his pistol, he shoved it into the side of her stomach but was quickly knocked away by Aria's free hand just as he pulled the trigger, sending the shot way off mark. She followed this up with a series of vicious strikes to his ribs until Miller was forced to let go of her. With her arms now free, Aria spun on her heels as she delivered a spin kick, knocking the heavy pistol from Miller's grip. Before he could recover, she closed in again and elbowed him in the head with enough force to crack his visor.

Miller staggered back a few steps as he tried to recover his senses, but Aria wouldn't give him the luxury of time. She rushed into him again, drawing back her fist as it burned with biotic fury. Before she could make contact however, he shimmered and disappeared from sight, leaving her punching the air. She always did hate cloaking devices.

"What's the matter, Miller? Scared?" Aria taunted as she looked around for any sign of him. "You started out talking so big too." She walked around, keeping her guard up. "Shame you had to go limp."

"Whore!" Miller roared as he re-appeared beside her, holding a pistol to her head.

Too easy, Aria smirked as she twisted out of the way and took out her own pistol, unloading at point blank. Miller just stood there though, unfazed by the shots. Come to think of it, not even his shields were shimmering. It was like the bullets just went past him. Aria's smirk disappeared as she realized she was facing a holographic decoy.

"Boo." Miller's voice whispered from behind her. Aria's eyes went wide, but it was too late as he shot out the back of her knees.

"Argh!" Aria roared as she fell to the ground, blood coming out from the holes in her knees. The pain was excruciating, but she was used to pain. Death however, would be a bit more permanent. Knowing this, she tried to get back up, only for a heavy armored boot to stomp down on her spine. She screamed and tried to squirm free, but Miller pinned her down with ease. "You son of a bitch!" She reached for her pistol which had fallen in front of her, but Miller shot it and it exploded in sparks.

"This is the queen of Omega?" Miller taunted as he ground his boot into her back, causing her to scream even more. "This is the scourge of the Terminus systems?" He leveled his pistol and shot her left hand as she tried to crawl away, blood splattering as the heavy round mangled her flesh. "I haven't been this disappointed since I killed my dad!"

Aria looked at her mangled left hand and the puddle of blood growing around it, knowing full well that it would hurt like hell when the shock wears off. Her ring and little finger having been completely blasted off, and what was left was mangled and charred. Her eyes glowed as she charged up a biotic blast, but she felt fingers grab at the tentacles on the back of her head and roughly yanked her head up. A second later, before she could even scream in protest, she felt something cold and heavy clamp down around her neck before her face was violently bashed into the metal floor with a resounding thud. She tried to use her biotics as she tasted blood in her mouth, but to her surprise, she could not even muster a charge.

Miller kneeled with his knee on her back as he pulled her head back up again, her face bloodied, and leaning in close enough to whisper to her. "Biotic dampeners, top of the line batarian tech." His helmet hissed as the front panel opened, revealing a heavily tattooed face lined with multiple piercings. "Such a shame... To waste such a pretty face…" He said as he stuck out his tongue and licked the blood slowly off of Aria's cheek.

"I'll kill you…" Aria said, voice quaking in barely contained rage. She felt a chill of disgust go up her spine as he slowly ran his tongue over her cheek.

"Beg." He whispered into her ear.

"Go to hell!"

"Oh I'm going to enjoy breaking your spirit."

"You psychotic bastard…" Aria growled, gritting her teeth as her vision blurred from the pain. "You won't get away with this. My men are pushing yours back." She managed a defiant smirk. "You've lost!"

"Is that what you think?" Miller said, mildly amused. "My men aren't being pushed back; they're getting out of the blast radius."

"What?"

Rather than replying he pulled out a small cube from his pack, holding it next to Aria's face for her to see.

Aria's eyes went wide, recognizing the device as a specific detonator for a specific kind of bomb. "You're insane."

"I always did think this club was an eyesore. So I decided to do some redecorating."

"But if you had this all along, why go through with a full frontal attack?"

Miller chuckled. "Stealth and subterfuge is nice, but it's all about making a statement. After all…" he said, licking his lips as his eyes traveled down from the back of Aria's neck towards her generous backside. "What's the use of killing a goddess if you can't make her bleed first?" He was about to undo some choice panels from his armor when he sighed in disappointment. Dropping the detonator, his hands shot like lightning as it caught the hands from behind him, each trying to bury a slender blade into the sides of his neck. "I hate it when people interrupt my meal." He said dangerously, his grip clamping down on his attacker's wrists like a vice.

Thane brought his legs into Miller's back, kicking off and wresting himself free from his grasp as he jumped into the air, landing gracefully with a flip several feet behind him. He scolded himself inwardly for being detected at the last second. With his target too close to Aria, he had no choice but to put away his gun and break out his blades.

"Well if it isn't the hanar's trained blood hound." Miller announced as he stood up, turning to face the drell. "I thought I smelled fish."

Without replying, Thane flung both blades at the mercenary, giving him time to reach for his pistol. Miller ran towards him and ducked to a roll underneath the spinning knives, pulling out his own gun as he did so. He rose right in front of Thane, both men leveling their pistols at each other's face at the same time.

Like a synchronized dance, both men stood in front of each other as their hands grabbed at the other's gun, pushing and pulling the gun's line of sight away from them before the other could pull the trigger. Shots rang out as bullets whizzed by their heads, missing them by a hair's breadth as they continued to trade fire and grapple.

Click. Click.

Their guns clicked empty, and both men spared each other a quick glance of understanding before spinning on their heels and standing back to back, hastily reloading their weapons.

As the shots rang out again, Miller didn't notice Aria reaching out for one of the knives that had embedded itself on the floor in front of her, right next to the detonator he had dropped earlier. "Clever drell." She murmured as she fought through the waves of pain that throbbed all over, especially from her mangled hand. Grabbing it, she pulled it out and started to work on the dampening collar on her neck.


	17. The Counter Attack

A/N: Yeah, I had to make the 'weekly updates' announcement thing just before I moved places. It was simple enough, but my net provider took their sweet time transferring my internet subscription to my new address and the local net café was just not cutting it (Welcome to the Philippines, we have the second worst internet in the world, look it up.). Enough excuses, I will try to get back into my tempo with things settling down now. P.S. I love equilibrium, whatever happened to Taye Diggs, anyway? He was the most disappointing part of that movie.

* * *

><p>Chapter 16: The Counter Attack.<p>

Tarrana Ionet was not pleased, a scowl marring her otherwise beautiful face as she listened to the reports. Her arms were folded over her chest, tapping an impatient finger on her elbow as Filon, her salarian lieutenant droned on. They had gotten rid of Shepard from the equation; that scoundrel, Miller, had seen to that. They also had the upper hand in terms of numbers as well as the situation in question. They also had that virus Cerberus had so graciously given them to disable the ship. For the record, it wasn't all that great. And still, despite all of that, what was supposed to be a simple mission had turned into a disaster. Losses were expected, sure, but that was calculated to be only several men and some mechs. Instead, one of her top lieutenants was dead, along with 38 of her finest soldiers and a number of mechs, including 3 Ymirs. She gnashed her teeth at the thought. Oh yes, she was not pleased at all.

"My lady?" Filon spoke up tentatively as she remained silent after his report. "We… uh, we are waiting on your commands."

"My commands, Filon?" She said, peering over her shades-like visor to look at her lieutenant in the eye, speaking dangerously soft. "Dear Filon, my previous commands still stand…" She closed the gap between them alarmingly quick and grabbed him by one of his horns, pulling him closer. "I WANT THAT DAMNED SHIP!" she shrieked into his face, before pushing him back and sending his ass crashing to the floor. Omnitools came to life on both her arms, wrapping them in crackling heat as it primed. "AND I WANT EVERY MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD'S HEAD FROM THAT SHIP ON A _STICK_! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?" She continued, pointing both her hands at Filon, threatening to incinerate him on the spot.

"Of… Of course, my lady! Forgive me, my lady!"He backed away hurriedly as Tarrana's Loki servants converged upon him, ushering him to get up. "Please, mercy!" he blurted out as he got up to his knees before the mechs could touch him, bowing his head to the ground. Tarrana's temper was legendary, and Filon knew this all too well. Her last tantrum ranked as one of the most gruesomely violent things he had ever seen. As far as he knew, they were still trying to scrape off bits and pieces of flesh from that ceiling. He gulped audibly as his boss had bloody murder etched on the scowl on her face. Her gaze was practically piercing into his head. Filon was doing his best to not shake in fear. He wasn't doing very well in that regard, so he settled for not pissing himself.

He remembers the day she first came into power, claiming her command, no, her reign, over the Omega Eclipse. She was a newcomer, a consultant sent over from Eclipse Corporate HQ to oversee the transition of command upon their previous commander's death. There were two main candidates vying for the position, tough as nails and just as sharp when it came to tech. Tarrana deemed both of them unqualified and took command herself. When one of the two argued against the decision, she killed him on the spot. She then killed the other one out of principle. Since then, she has proven to be an able and cunning leader, and every bit as brutal as she was eccentric. And Tarrana Ionet was very, very eccentric.

Tarrana regarded him for a moment, no doubt weighing in her mind the pros and cons of killing him where he stood. Suddenly, her scowl disappeared. She turned sharply on her heel, facing away from him and took a deep breath. The fire wreathing her hands suddenly dissipated into nothingness. She sighed melancholically as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "I'm sorry, dear Filon…" she began, a tone of remorse lacing her voice, "You have to try and see things from my perspective… With Jantar gone, as well as those baseless rumors of Archangel's return, and now with Lessa dead too, I have only you to rely on…" She brought the back of her hand to her forehead and swooned. "The stress, dear Filon… Oh the stress! I did not mean to yell at you, it's just that I hate repeating myself." she said, her voice sickeningly sweet; motherly in the most twisted way imaginable. She looked over her shoulder and flashed him a warm smile. "I hope that you will not make me repeat myself in the future, hmm?"

Filon's voice was shaky with barely contained fear. "Of course not, my lady…" he replied, a chill running down his spine. "Thank you, my lady…"

"Good!" she said, perking up and turning to face him once more with a bounce in her step and a smile on her face. "Now, put out those fires and instruct the cyber warfare division to _raise the heat_, as they say, yes?"

"At once, my lady."

"Now then, prepare another boarding party, would you darling? You will lead it, personally, and I expect very impressive results." She said, activating her omnitools, her Lokis kneeling down in front of her to present her with various consoles streaming with data, reflecting it on her visor. It was the data being mined from the Normandy as it was being hacked. A lascivious smile etched its way onto her face as she immersed herself in the stream. "You are dismissed, dear."

"Thank you, my lady." Filon was only too happy to comply, hurriedly leaving her presence.

"Oh, and Filon?" She called out to him in that sing-song tone she spoke in, stopping him in his tracks.

"Yes, my lady?" He replied hesitantly, turning his head to face her once more.

"Should you fail, I do not expect you to come back _alive_." She said, giving him a small smile and a wink. "Understood?"

He gulped. "Understood, my lady." Great, he thought, just fucking great. If Lessa couldn't do it, what chance did he have? Maybe he should just run? This woman was insane. Not to mention that he was sick and tired of saying 'my lady' over and over and over again. He was at the shipyards; he could nab a ship out of here and start anew elsewhere. He has enough connections to slink in with other Eclipse cells. He could be out of here in minutes… His train of thought was derailed when he heard Tarrana gasp behind him. "My lady?" he inquired, turning around once more.

She was smiling lewdly as she touched a finger to her purple painted lips. "Oh my… This is unexpected." She mused.

Before Filon could ask what she was talking about, the sound of depressurizing pistons made him turn towards the Normandy. Its shuttle bay doors were opening, and not a second later, a Kodiak came thundering out. Weaving in and out of the limited space of the shipyard, its cannons roared as it fired with gusto, catching many surprised and unaware mercenaries in a fiery death. "Impossible!" Filon said in disbelief as explosions rocked the area. "What kind of pilot is able to fly that thing in here?"

* * *

><p>"This is a stupid idea!" Joker screamed from the pilot seat as he yanked hard on the controls, narrowly avoiding a rocket from a, Eclipse heavy. "And I should know, I've had a few!"<p>

Jack held her grip tightly on the railings, trying to steady herself despite the Kodiak's wild maneuvers. "I hate to admit it, but Joker has a point!" She yelled back before an explosion rocked the hull. "How the hell did you talk us into this, Garrus?"

"I'm a people person!" Garrus yelled over the blasts of the cannon as he operated the weapons console.

"Asshole!"

"Save the name calling for later! Besides, you are loving every second of this!" He yelled back as he continued his sweep of death and destruction.

"Hell yeah!" Jack yelled back with a toothy grin.

"You know your roles! Jack, Samara, Grunt! Get ready for deployment!"

Grunt stood up and hefted a rocket launcher, with Jack and Samara forming up beside him. "We are ready!" He boomed.

Joker yoked the controls and the Kodiak turned in a sharp arc, heading straight for the row of Ymir's on the Normandy's port side. The side hatches opened and he gave Garrus a thumb's up.

"GO!" Garrus yelled as he peppered the Ymir's with cannon fire as they passed by.

Jack smiled psychotically as she burned with biotic energy before leaping out of the open hatch leaving a trail of blue energy behind her. The ymir was too busy firing back at the Kodiak to notice the biotic known as Subject Zero rocketing towards it. Jack roared as she landed with explosive impact on the ymir, punching through its shield and shattering its chassis. Her gaze shifted to the one next to it before charging right into the heavy mech, a shining fist blasting through its head.

Grunt sneered in contempt as he watched Jack run amok. "So she has biotics, big deal…" he muttered as he walked up next to Samara.

"Steady, Grunt, there's more than enough to go around." Samara consoled as she wrapped her arm around his in preparation for the jump.

"Let's just go already!"

Samara merely stared back at him with her nonchalant face and nodded. Both of them jumped out after Jack, with Samara taking Grunt into her biotic field as they plummeted towards the ground.

"I am KROGAN!" Grunt bellowed as they landed with impact onto an unaware ymir and taking it out, the rest already too focused on Jack to notice. Grunt hopped off of its head as the ymir fell to its knees; he landed on the ground and leveled his rocket launcher towards the back of another heavy mech. Pulling the trigger, the rocket punched straight into its armor and blew off its upper body. "Haha! Next!"

The asari justicar rolled her eyes as the krogan charged onwards. Wreathing her body in biotic energy, she put both of her hands in front of her and levitated another ymir off of its feet. With a grunt of effort, she quickly pulled away both of her hands in opposite directions, tearing the mech apart in her biotic field. "Keep tight formation, don't catch yourself in the open!"

Garrus watched all this occur as he gave them covering fire with the Kodiak's cannons, keeping the rest of the Eclipse at bay from raining gun fire on the trio. "Alright, Strike team has deployed! We're keeping them plenty distracted." he said over the comm, "How're things on your end?"

He could almost hear the smirk on Kasumi's face as she replied over the comm. "Copy that, stealth team is ready. Deploying in 30 seconds."

Tali's voice piped up after her. "We'll stop the viral upload; just keep them off our backs."

"Copy that, Garrus out!"

"How are we still alive!" Joker screeched as he swung into a barrel roll, dodging several rockets against all odds. "Best fucking pilot in the fleet, that's how! Wooo!"

* * *

><p>As the battle raged on, a shimmering silhouette went unnoticed as it jumped out of the hole on the Normandy's belly, landing quietly on the damp, ash black ruins of the wrecked industrial lift. Kasumi looked around as Eclipse techs were panicking while troopers and mechs tried to reform into their squads amidst the chaos. She kept her position and kept her silence as they ran about all around her. A few moments later, most of the eclipse had mobilized except for a couple of techs who were mulling about with some consoles. Bingo.<p>

Her footsteps didn't make a single sound as she sprinted towards the techs, pulling out her heavy pistol in one hand and flipping the safety off. Leaping into the air, she landed on top of the console with a light thud, killing her stealth and surprising the techs enough to suppress their reaction time. Long enough for her to put a bullet into each of their heads. "Clear." Kasumi said into her comm as the techs slumped to the ground, dead.

Two lengths of cable dropped down from the hull breach in the Normandy, and soon after that, Mordin and Tali slid down undetected. Both of them raised their weapons as they advanced on Kasumi's position cautiously, eyes scanning for any Eclipse mercs. Luckily, the mercs were being kept busy enough for them to not be noticed.

Kasumi had already started working on the console when Tali and Mordin had come up beside her, engrossed in the data uplink. "I'm in their system, just taking a quick tour of the lay out." She said, breaking through firewalls and rummaging through files. "Plenty of interesting stuff in here… Don't know if it's what we're looking for, though."

Tali opened her omnitool and linked it up with the console. "Hold on, let me take a look." She said as the two devices went in synch. "Well this is interesting…" Tali mused as she read up the data.

"Care to disclose your assessment?" Mordin asked as he looked around for any sign of trouble.

"This isn't the main console uploading the virus. It's just a node to bounce off and amplify the signal." Tali explained as she started typing into her omnitool's interface.

"Hmm, could destroy it, weaken the signal." He began, rubbing his chin. "Could also perform more in depth interventions, risk would be... Substantial."

"Precisely, they might have multiple nodes around so destroying this one might not be of much help." Tali replied. "We could try to disable the upload remotely from here. But we have to be virtually invisible in the system or we could be compromised and locked out."

Kasumi activated her omnitool and waved it over the console. "You leave the subtlety to me." She said as she hooked her omnitool into the console and started to upload a program. She pressed a few keys and a few moments later she had a victorious smirk on her face. "There you go, just what you wanted… _Virtually invisible_."

Tali blinked in disbelief as she double checked what Kasumi just did. The console was not registering in the system, despite her being able to access all of its drives. "What the… How?"

"Hello? Best thief in the galaxy." Kasumi teased as Tali gawked at the interface. "You have your tricks, I have mine."

"Mind if I grabbed a copy of your tricks?"

"Ah-ah, patent pending." she said, wagging a finger at Tali. "Now get on with the virtual heavy lifting, we have a ship to save."

"Right, initializing firewall breach."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the lower Afterlife.<p>

Miranda gritted her teeth, slowing her breathing as she hid behind cover and waited for the signal. The Blue Suns were relentless, but she and the rest of the pirates were about to give as good as they got. She glanced over to where Jacob and Zaeed were, just in time to see the old man toss several grenades over cover. It was only a split second, the time it would take for the Suns to duck into cover before the frags blew, but it was all the time they needed to turn the tables. "Barriers!"

As one, Miranda and the other biotics leapt out of cover and radiated energy from their bodies. Focusing the energy into their hands and projecting it as a barrier in front of them just in time as the grenades exploded, shielding them from the blast. Behind them, Jacon, Zaeed and the rest of the pirates followed suit, cocking their weapons and eager for a little pay back.

The mercs had emerged from cover, not expecting what they saw. The pirates marched onward defiantly as bullets hailed against the barrier. It flickered and crackled under the strain, but maintained its integrity as the biotics pushed onwards, and dug deep into themselves.

"Come on, everybody!" Miranda said as they pressed forward closer to the mercs, "Just a little more!" She was carrying most of the weight, having more biotic power than those here.

A woman next to her had visible strain on her face. "I… I can't!"

Miranda turned her head to the right and saw a girl no older than her own sister. Now however was not the time to ponder on how someone so young could go so very astray. "You have to!" Miranda said to her as she increased her own output, taking a little bit of the weight off of the girl's shoulders. They were more than three-quarters of the way, and some of the mercs were starting to back away nervously. She furrowed her brow in concentration as the strain assaulted her unrelentingly. Suddenly, like a load being lifted, the strain eased off. Looking to her left, she saw Jacob take up position next to her, one hand holding his shotgun while the other was raised in front of him, focusing his biotic field towards the barrier.

"I got your back." He said with a grunt of effort.

"I know." She replied without thinking.

The reply almost made Jacob trip on his own feet. No time for him to think of that now though, they were near striking distance.

Zaeed smirked as he pulled the slide on his LMG, spitting out the stub of the cigar he still had clenched between his teeth. He raised his gun and stared down its sights. "Alright men, weapons up!" The pirates weren't used to coordination, they weren't a military unit. But Zaeed radiated this presence that made them do just as he said. "On your mark, Miranda!"

"Biotics!" Miranda announced, "Shift the frequency of your fields to the same as mine! Keep it charged and steady!" The barrier crackled violently as tendrils of energy started to sprout from its surface, as if reaching out greedily for the mercenaries. "Now!" She roared as her eyes glowed with biotic fury.

Like a rising tsunami, the barrier started to swirl with unrestrained energy and rushed towards the Blue Suns. The mercs had started to turn and run but it was too late. The blast of energy crashed into them, tearing them apart atom by atom as it surged down into the passage way. Those who were able to somehow survive the blast were quickly mowed down by gun fire.

The biotics were exhausted, and Miranda nearly fell backwards had Jacob not been there to catch her. Zaeed stepped up to the front, looking at Miranda with impressed satisfaction.

"Good job, Miss Lawson." He started as he made his way towards the passage way, with the pirates, surprisingly enough, following his lead. "You and the others catch your breath; We'll take the reins for now."

Miranda was too tired to reply, and simply watched as Zaeed broke to a sprint, followed by the pirates who streamed past them. She turned her head towards Jacob who was also looking at the pirates who were rushing towards battle. She could always depend on Jacob, she thought. She wasn't somebody who looked back on her decisions though, but maybe… No. That was over and done with. She was sure Jacob thought so too. "Jacob…" She said weakly, catching his attention.

"What's wrong?" He said, turning his head and looking her in the eyes.

Those eyes, she thought. Everything about Jacob was strong, but his eyes were always gentle. She'd always lose herself in them just before they would… Ugh, she must really be out of it if she's thinking those kinds of thoughts. Must be the exhaustion talking, she thought. "I'll be fine, there's enough food scattered about here to replenish our reserves." Miranda assured him. She then nodded her head towards the passageway. "You should go with Zaeed."

"Are you sure?" Jacob said as he let go of Miranda, who somehow managed to find her footing and put up a strong front.

"I just want you to keep him alive long enough so I could kill him myself." She said with a small smirk. "Think you could manage that?"

Jacob chuckled as cocked his shotgun. "Yes ma'am, I'll get right on that. Just get something to eat." With that, he turned towards the passageway and followed after the rest.

Miranda watched his retreating form and whispered under her breath. "Take care…"

* * *

><p>As the battle was about to rage beneath, the battle in the upper Afterlife raged to a boiling point.<p>

Shepard's armor was caked with dirt and blood as he lunged into a Blue Suns centurion, burying his combat knife into the man's visor and straight into his head. He then pulled the knife out, blood gushing from the hole, and flipped the corpse around, using it as a shield when several mercs unloaded their assault rifles into him. Taking the heavy pistol from his hip, he kicked the centurion towards them and tagged each of them with a couple of rounds in the head. No sooner had they fallen dead, the chaos engulfed him once more and he found himself grappling with another Blue Sun who tackled him into the ground. The turian straddled him and grabbed for his pistol, but Shepard kept his grip tight. The two wrestled for control over the gun, but Shepard's cybernetics gave him an edge in a battle of strength. He grit his teeth as he forced the barrel of his gun towards the turian's face and pulled the trigger. The top of the merc's head exploded, blood splattering everywhere before he lifelessly slumped on top of Shepard. Shoving the corpse off of himself, Shepard quickly got up to his knees. His breathing was ragged and his body was aching despite the adrenalin coursing through his veins. He needed to keep going, he was afraid that if he stopped now, he won't get back up. Gathering all his strength and will power, he got up to his feet just as another mercenary converged on him. Not having any of it, Shepard whipped the man's head with his pistol and kneed him in the gut before wrapping his arms around the merc's neck and snapping it like a twig. He reloaded his pistol and took in the situation.

They were definitely pushing them back, he thought, but the numbers game would get to them soon. The pirates fought with fury, but they were also tired and angry, making them sloppy and vulnerable. He flipped open his comm to check on the others. "This is Shepard, give me a sitrep people!"

Miranda replied first, sounding tired and drained. "Miranda here, commander, we've pushed our way back into the main hub of the lower Afterlife."

Zaeed's voice butted in, "We have the bastards on the run, Shepard!" He began, his revenant barking in the background. "It's all a little bit too easy for my liking, actually."

Shepard looked around, and noticed that the mercs seemed to be giving them more ground than they should. "Something's not right here…" he mused. "Thane, how are things on your end?" He paused, but there was no reply. "Thane?"

* * *

><p>Thane ignored the comm alert as he ducked underneath a spin kick, dipping to the ground and trying to knock Miller down with a leg sweep. The Blue Suns commander seemed to topple to the ground at first, but flipped and landed into a crouch, staring Thane in the eye with an amused grin on his face. Thane frowned as he tried to create some distance between them, but to no avail, as Miller kept his proximity to the assassin. Their battleground was a precarious catwalk high above inside of the Afterlife, and both men teetered over the edge as they traded blows. They punched each other at the same time, Both men swiftly rose up and brought up their pistols again, holding the barrel inches in front of the other's face. Before they could pull on the triggers, they simultaneously knocked the other's gun aside, causing the shots to miss their mark and whiz harmlessly past them. This man was definitely better than adequate, Thane thought, perhaps even above average in skill.<p>

Miller smirked as he blocked a kick and retaliated with a right hook that the drell gracefully dodged. "Not bad, not bad at all!" He said as Thane retaliated with a series of punches that he all blocked with one hand. "Say… I know who you are now! You're Thane Krios, right?" he said with a tone of realization.

Thane said nothing as he tried to grapple Miller, but the man proved slippery as he was sly, worming out of each hold and chancing a few shots at Thane. For his part, the drell assassin was able to dodge the shots and knock the gun's trajectory off course if he couldn't dodge it. His coat was full of bullet holes, but he himself was mostly unscathed save for a few flesh wounds where the bullets grazed him.

"How rude! I asked you a question!" Miller said as he grabbed Thane's arm and twisted it into an armbar, dropping Thane to his knees and pointing his gun into the back of the drell's head.

Thane flipped forwards, following the drag of his arm and lay flat on his back, kicking Miller's hand holding the gun as he did so, knocking the weapon out of his grip. Another kick to the head made Miller let him go, allowing Thane to flip back up onto his feet. He raised his gun, about to fire, but Miller was on him in a second.

Miller wrested the pistol from Thane's hand and aimed for the drell, but Thane grabbed his arm and pulled him in towards himself, going past the gun and elbowing the mercenary in the face. Dazed, Miller lost his grip on the weapon, allowing Thane to grab it once more.

Thane pressed the gun into Miller's chest. But the mercenary grabbed for the gun just as he was about to pull the trigger, not to shove it away, but to press the thermal clip release. As Thane pulled the trigger, the thermal clip disengaged and dropped towards the floor, causing the weapon to click empty. Unfazed, Thane brought his foot up in a small kick, catching the thermal clip before it touched the ground and kicking it up back into the gun. Before he could fire however, Miller drew his head back and delivered a big head butt with his helmet into the drell's unprotected forehead. Thane staggered backwards, letting go of the gun and fell to his knees, dazed.

"Yep, you are definitely Thane Krios." Miller said as he kicked Thane's head as he was kneeling down, planting him flat on the ground. Miller laughed as he watched the drell squirm as Thane tried to get back up. "This is great! Not only do I get to kill Aria T'loak, but I also get to do in the infamous Thane Krios! I'll be feared across the Terminus systems!" he pointed the gun at Thane. "Any last words, drell? I still have a bleeding out asari to fuck before she dies, so make it quick."

"Make it hurt…" Thane said as he coughed out blood, trying to get back up onto his knees.

"Strange request, but to each his own I guess." Miller said with an amused smirk.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"Eh?" Before Miller realized what he meant, his body was engulfed in a biotic field and was levitated into the air. He struggled, but the force around him was too strong, and he could barely breathe under the pressure.

Aria stood proudly straight up despite her injuries, supported by her biotics and clutching her mangled hand, her body covered in her own blood. She was able to pry off the collar with the blade Thane had thrown, and was suppressing the bleeding from her wounds. The look on her face was pure hate as she increased the pressure of the field around Miller.

Miller's eyes bulged as his armor started to crack under the force of the field around him. "N-no!" He managed to say as he felt the piercing pain of his bones starting to give.

"Don't take it personally, Miller…" Aria said venomously. "It's just _business_."


	18. The Darkness Revealed

Chapter 17: The Darkness Revealed

* * *

><p>Shepard rolled his neck as he walked up towards the retreating mercs, most of which had their backs to him and was starting to run. Zaeed was right; this was all too easy for his liking. Shelving the thought, he stopped in his tracks as the pirates ran past him and tore into any merc unfortunate enough to straggle behind. The rest of the Blue Suns had run out of the club, the main door sealing behind them. He saw Anto run up to a control panel to the side of the massive door and punched a few keys. There was a hiss and whir of unseen machinations, effectively locking the door. Several seconds of silence passed, with only the ragged breathing of those around him breaking the quiet, before the cheering started. They had retaken the upper Afterlife. They had won.<p>

They'd won alright, but the cost was too high, Shepard thought as he looked down at his feet to see the myriad of corpses, both pirate and mercenary, littering the ground. He saw some of the pirates begin rummaging through the dead, no doubt to identify survivors and deceased allies and to loot trophies from the dead suns or finish off those barely alive. That last part didn't sit right with him, but this was the harsh reality of war.

Men were cheering, singing, just happy to be alive and see their friends alive. More than a dozen pirates had crowded around Shepard, giving him a pat on the back or clamping a hand on his shoulder, each bringing words of praise for him.

"Fucking great job, Commander!"

"Saved my hide, you did!"

"Guy's a regular killing machine!"

"I've never seen anybody take someone out with a discarded helmet 'til you came along, sir!"

Shepard brushed off the commendations humbly. The pirates all laughed heartily, eventually letting him off and mingled with their comrades. He walked up to where the giant door had sealed shut, fists clenched and weighing his options. The cheers were starting to annoy him; this victory was a small one at best. Out there, Omega was still in chaos. Battles were still being fought, men and women were still dying, and here he stood, cut off from all of that. He wanted to urge the pirates to take the fight to the Suns outside, to take back the district. But these men were wounded and tired. They were thugs, not soldiers. If he did convince them, and odds are he wouldn't, he'd only lead them to their deaths.

He took a sharp breath and flipped open his comm, trying to reach the Normandy again, but to no avail. The signal was still being blocked, and Shepard tried not to let his mind wander into the grim implications. He wanted to run out there, to run back to the Normandy, but he knew better. That's what a commander does, to keep faith. His people were strong, formidable and reliable. He had to have faith in his crew, his team, his love. Tali was strong, maybe even stronger than him when it came right down to it. Right now, the ones who needed him the most were his people here. He shifted his frequencies and hailed Miranda. "Shepard here, we just cleared out the upper level, but the pirates are unwilling to pursue past the door." He began, "How are you holding up down there?"

"Commander, the Suns down here are also slowly withdrawing their forces into a fighting retreat." She replied, gunfire in the background. "It could be a feint, but we'll be able to push them back in a matter of minutes."

Jacob's voice was strained, sounding like he was heaving something heavy. "Minutes? More like moments. We've barely even taken it to them and they're already high-tailing it out of here!"

Shepard furrowed his brow at the news. "Keep your guards up, something isn't right here. Shepard, out." He changed the frequency and hailed Thane. Still, the assassin did not pick up. "Damn it, Thane…" he said as he started walking back into the Afterlife, still trying to contact him.

* * *

><p>The room was dark, save for the light that hung from the ceiling, flickering on and off every now and then. There were two people in that room, and only one of them would leave it come the time when this would be over.<p>

Thane's entire body was shaking as he stood in front of the naked batarian strapped down on the operating table, a gag muffling his cries and an IV line in his arm. He approached the batarian, barely able to contain the shiver down his spine. It wasn't fear, nor was it anger, but excitement that wracked him from head to toe.

The batarian struggled against his restraints, but struggle as much as he did, there would be no escape, no respite, no reprieve. There was something dripping on him, but he couldn't see what it was with the ceiling covered in darkness where the flickering light could not penetrate it, and his head bound securely against the table.

Thane walked over to a small table by the batarian's bedside, lined with razor implements and tools of various shapes and sizes. He picked up each instrument, one at a time, inspecting it thoroughly and making sure to show it in the batarian's field of vision. He settled with a small knife, looming over the bound batarian. "If you are holding out hope for help to arrive, well…" he pressed a button on his omnitool, and a blinding white light illuminated the room. "So did they."

The batarian was momentarily blinded by the white light, but when his vision returned, he wished it hadn't. Terror gripped him as he started to scream so hard, it was barely muffled by his gag. It was blood that was dripping on him, from the severed heads of over a dozen other batarians that hung from the ceiling. He recognized the agonized faces of the dead; it was the remains of his men.

"You sought to make me angry." Thane began; bringing the batarian's attention back to him. "Congratulations, you have made me very, very… angry." He traced the blade lightly over the batarian's chest, enough to break skin and draw blood from the shallow wound.

The batarian shook in unbelievable pain, screaming despite the gag.

"I have flooded your system with pain receptor agonists…" Thane explained casually as he continued to run the blade across the batarian's chest. "As you are no doubt experiencing, it heightens the pain sensation by a hundredfold." He cut him all the way down to his navel, only to stop and move back up next to the initial incision and cut all the way back down again.

He had cut a dozen parallel wounds across the batarian's chest and abdomen before speaking again. "Hmm, I think this has been a suitable warm up." He said, ignoring the agony on the batarian's face as he put the blade back onto the table. "I've also flooded your system with enough stimulants to keep you awake and alert for days, so don't worry about passing out from the pain…" Thane paused as he chose what tool to use next, before picking up a sinister looking device not unlike a buzzsaw. Pressing a button on the handle, the blade rotated with a menacing whir in the air. "I was able to keep one of your men alive for four whole days before he expired." He began as he loomed over the batarian, holding the buzzsaw against his captive's face. "Let's see if we can break that record…"

And break it he did. Thane stayed in that room for over a week, slowly, methodically mutilating and breaking the batarian. So thorough was his work that the remains could hardly be recognized as anything anymore. And when it was all over, Thane slumped against a wall, covered in blood and gristle, torn between wanting to laugh or cry. He had killed them, all of them. He butchered them like animals and desecrated their corpses. His need for revenge was satisfied, but why was this satisfaction so empty? He didn't want to lead this life without her. He didn't want to be alone. But the truth was always bitter. He knew that even after all this, his love, his reason to live, wasn't coming back to him. And even if she did, would he be able to look her in the eyes after the things he had done? And what about their son, Kolyat? The boy didn't need a monster for a father. "Oh, Irikah…" He buried his face in his hands and started to sob quietly. "No… Wait…" he forced out between sobs. "This is… This is…"

* * *

><p>"Only a memory." He finally muttered, coming back to the present. His vision cleared, and he saw Miller floating in front of him, unbearable pain etched on his face.<p>

Aria was taking her time, slowly, methodically breaking each and every single bone in Miller's body, grinding it into powder and rupturing the flesh around it. Miller's mouth was clamped shut, but Thane could still hear the muffled screams from his throat.

He had told Aria to make it hurt, but why? It was because of that face; that self-satisfied grin and cocky expression that he wore. It reminded him of those that slew his wife. When he fought this man, he realized he did not just want to kill him. He wanted to murder him, to end his life in every maliciously conceivable way. That was against everything he had lived for these past few years, but it had felt so... right. "Stop." he said out loud, shaking the cobwebs from his head.

"How about no?" Aria replied. Her tone was mildly amused but her face had bloody murder on it. "And weren't you the one to tell me to 'make it hurt'?" She shot back. "I don't take orders from anybody, much less let live those who try and order me around. But I give special leeway to men who save my life."

"You've beaten him already, this is unnecessary!"

Aria cocked an eyebrow at Thane's pleading. "I'm sorry, but as far as I recall, this monster tried to _rape_ _and kill me_." She began coldly, twisting Miller's arm in an unnatural fashion and relishing in his screams. "Besides, I heard what Miller said. You're Thane Krios right? You of all people should understand, after what you did to those batarians who raped and killed your wife."

The last remark was like a slap to the face, and Thane stood up, anger quickly rising in his otherwise calm face.

"See?" Aria said, sneering at him. "The very thought of it still drives you wild." She turned her gaze back to Miller. "This is very necessary, Thane Krios. Now I suggest you shut up and enjoy the show before I forget that I owe you my life."

While the two were bantering, Miller was quietly whispering something under his breath in between gasps of pain. If he could just make it loud enough, he could activate the voice recognition interface of his omnitool. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, he finally activated the transmitter beacon and opened his comm. Now all he had to do was survive long enough until help arrives.

Thane opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. Whatever he thought, Aria was within her rights to do this, to acquire satisfaction in her own vengeance. It left a bad taste in his mouth seeing the hate on Aria's face. It reminded him so much of himself.

Aria caught him staring at her and laughed. "You hypocrite, you're enjoying every moment of this, aren't you?" She chided.

"No." He calmly replied. "I most certainly am not."

"Whatever you say, killer." She taunted, trying to incite his rage. "You don't have to watch if you're squeamish, so relax, Krios… Besides, you should answer your comm, it's been ringing for ages."

Thane was now suddenly very aware of the beeping coming from his comm. "Thane here," he answered hurriedly, turning away from Miller and Aria.

"Thane!" Shepard's voice was tinged with relief. "What's your status? I've been trying to hail you for a while now."

"Forgive me, I was preoccupied." He replied, "We've neutralized Miller, but he has more bombs stashed away inside of the Afterlife..."

"Well that explains the hasty retreat…" Shepard muttered. "We've routed the Suns, and the lower Afterlife is close to ridding themselves of their own problems. Are the bombs disarmed?"

"Negative, but we have the detonator, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Fair enough." Shepard conceded. "Still, it'd make me feel better once we've disarmed those explosives. Any idea where they're stashed?"

"No, but I can ask."

"Ask? I thought you said Miller has been neutralized?"

"To Aria, that seems to be a slow and ongoing process."

"I see… Where are you? I'll be over in a second."

"The cat walks in the middle. There's a maintenance ladder to get up."

"Got it, Shepard out."

Thane turned off the comm and turned back to Aria. "There is still the matter of the bombs…" he offered her.

"What about the bombs?" Aria replied, busy twisting Miller's foot in odd angles. She held out a cube shaped device in her hand, showing it to Thane. "I have the detonator right here, so his bombs are as good as useless right now."

"Are you willing to risk that much…" Thane began gesturing to the club around him, then pointing a finger at Miller. "For _this_?"

Aria regarded him for a second, a frown on her face. She was obviously a woman who was not used to people telling her what to do. With a disgruntled sigh, she flipped Miller around to face her, his armor was shattered in most places and blood ran freely, being held in the air by her biotics. "Alright Miller, let's play a game." She began, walking up to him. "I'll ask you a question and if you give me what I want to hear, I promise a quick and _relatively_ painless death."

"Fuck you, you bitch…" he cursed at Aria weakly.

"Wrong answer." With a wave of her finger, Miller's left hand started to distort until the sickening cracks of bone snapping and his screams filled the air. Aria smiled. "Let's try that again."

* * *

><p>Jacob blasted his shotgun through a group of mercs, sending them sprawling onto the ground like ragdolls. This was now mostly a clean-up operation; the Suns taking into a full retreat, leaving stragglers for dead. He waved his hand and a biotic field pulled a mercenary into the air, leaving the turian open to the half dozen guns that unloaded into it. He cocked his shotgun and looked around. There doesn't seem to be anymore mercs willing to fight, and that was a good a signal as any to stop. The pirates were of a more vicious mindset though, killing any and all they could get their hands on, not that he could blame them. "This doesn't feel right."<p>

Next to him, Zaeed had already set aside his weapon, pulling out another cigar from somewhere on his person and was currently in the middle of lighting it. "Seems to me they're scared of something other than us…" he said sagely, before taking a deep drag of the tobacco.

Jacob pulled up a chair and slumped down, resting his tired body and plopping the shotgun down on his lap. "I'm not complaining, though." He said, taking a deep breath as he decompressed. "Looks like we live to see another day."

"Day's not over yet." Zaeed said grimly. The distinct clicking of high heels announced Miranda approaching them, and both men turned their heads in her direction. "Miranda, good of you to join us." Zaeed called out to her as Jacob merely waved a tired hand at the X.O. "Thoughts on our enemies' sudden change in tactica?" Before anything else could be said, Miranda walked up to Zaeed and slapped him in the face, knocking the cigar from his mouth. Jacob covered his mouth to try and suppress the laugh he wanted to bellow out loud with minimal success while Zaeed merely rubbed his cheek, shrugged, and pulled out another cigar.

Miranda stepped back from him and took a deep breath, before speaking as if nothing happened. "I don't like it either." She began, flipping open her comm on her omnitool. "Shepard, this is Miranda, we've routed the Suns down here, but I suspect there's more to it than that."

"Copy that, Miranda." Shepard's voice replied. "The Suns seem to have planted more bombs in the Afterlife and are hoping to detonate it."

Jacob suddenly stood up from where he sat upon hearing the news while Miranda's eyes widened. Zaeed however, was busy trying to light his cigar.

"Relax," Shepard added as if predicting their reactions, "We're in possession of the detonator, but I'll rest easier once we've disarmed all the bombs."

"Be that as it may, we're still sitting ducks in here." Miranda replied curtly, "The exit to the lower Afterlife opens up to the marketplace, not like the open plaza in front of the upper afterlife. A small group can easily maneuver past the Blue Suns forces. From there, we'll try to make contact with the Normandy and provide support over to your end." She paused, "I recommend we take this course of action, commander."

"Noted. No heroics, do you hear me, Miranda? Just run and gun. If you meet heavy resistance, fall back."

"Copy that, commander, over and out."

Zaeed took a deep puff of his cigar and looked at Jacob. "Told ya, Taylor. Day's not over yet."

Jacob sighed as he slumped back down to his chair again. "Damn it, Zaeed, I hate it when your right."

Miranda clapped her hands twice to get both of their attentions. "Come on. Up! Up! We have a job to do."

* * *

><p>Shepard walked carefully over the fallen corpses that littered the floor towards the main hub of the nightclub, careful not to step on any of them. He wasn't squeamish by any means, but ruthlessness in combat and respect for the dead were not two mutually exclusive things. The deeper he got into the club, the more civilian casualties began to show up; the people who weren't quick enough to escape the crossfire. In combat, the fighting would seem to go on for an eternity, but afterwards you realize just how fast the conflict had started and ended. It was only then that the horror could overtake you. Shepard wondered how this place could be used for so much merriment in the future after all the death that has happened today. Then again, this was Omega, so who knows how many people have already bled to death in the Afterlife before tonight?<p>

He approached the main hub, the smoke had cleared and he could clearly see the shining blue silhouette of a man crucified in a biotic field, flanked by Thane and Aria. "Boy, Thane wasn't kidding…" he mused as he got a better look at the state Miller was in. He looked around and easily found the ladder Thane spoke of and made his way to it. Suddenly, a hand clasped down on his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

"Shepard, it seems I have missed the battle." A booming voice announced behind him. "A pity."

Shepard turned around and saw a scarred krogan dressed in ornate but battle worn heavy armor. "Patriarch?" Shepard said as he finally recognized the man he was talking to. "Good to see you alive." He continued, "Where were you?"

The Patriarch let go of his shoulder and took a few steps back. "I was hiding in my private lounge." He began, looking away with just a touch of shame in his voice. "I'm old, I thought, too old for battle." He turned to face Shepard once more, a fire now burning in his eyes. "But when the darkest hour seemed upon us, I decided I'd rather die fighting. Imagine my surprise when I come out prepared to join glorious combat, I find you in the center of things again."

Shepard looked around the ruined club. "I didn't mean for this to happen."

"We don't mean for greatness, it just happens."

"Greatness?" Shepard snapped, trying his best to control his temper. "Tell me, Patriarch…" he continued, gesturing towards the dead. "What about all this death says 'greatness' to you?"

"Greatness isn't about who dies, but who lives." The krogan replied unfazed. His gaze shifted upwards, towards where Thane and the others were. "That would be Aria dealing with the Blue Suns commander, I assume?"

"Yeah, excuse me Patriarch, but I have to get up there." He started to make for the ladder when the Patriarch put a hand on his shoulder again.

"Shepard, wait." The Patriarch began, "I've been meaning to thank you, about what you did for me. I know it was because Aria asked you to do it, but you didn't have to. You could've just let me die, but you didn't. I feel like a warlord again, all thanks to you."

Shepard was about to reply when a massive fist crashed into his head, breaking through his shields and shattering his helmet, sending him flying several feet across the club. He landed roughly on a table and broke it on impact. His vision went white and he tasted the coppery sting of blood in his mouth.

"Which is why I'm going to spare you, just this one time." The Patriarch growled as he walked over to where Shepard lay beaten on the ground. He picked up Shepard's pistol, which had fallen to the ground next to him, and casually threw it aside. The krogan warlord loomed over the stunned commander, his face an unreadable mask as he regarded Shepard with a piercing glare.

"Why?" Shepard tried to get back up, but his body wasn't listening to him. "Wha- _What are you doing this for_?" He managed to say weakly.

"I am taking my life back." Grabbing Shepard by the collar of his armor, the old krogan lifted him up into the air with one hand, Shepard's feet dangling as he hung from the Patriarch's grip. With a primal roar, the Patriarch threw Shepard across the room and sent him slamming into a wall.

Pain wracked through Shepard's body as he crumpled into a heap on the floor, fighting to stay conscious. He was running past empty, drained from the recent fighting.

Dusting his hands off, the Patriarch turned away from Shepard and looked up to where Thane and Aria were interrogating Miller. They still hadn't noticed what had transpired beneath them, but they were about to in a big way. The krogan warlord reached behind him and pulled out a 4-chambered rocket launcher, hefting the large weapon with ease. He aimed the rockets at the catwalk and pulled the trigger, sending a barrage of warheads flying into the group above.

Thane's eyes widened as he heard the distinct sound of a rockets igniting, turning just in time to see the warheads flying right at them. "Incoming!" He roared as he dove for Aria, grabbing her as the asari yelped at the pain of the tackle. They landed roughly on the floor and Thane immediately covered themselves in a biotic field. The rockets hit the ceiling just above them, raining broken steel and debris on top of the group.

With Aria's concentration broken, the biotic field covering Miller dissipated, and he fell to his knees, quickly rolling off the catwalk just in time as large chunks of debris rained from above. He started to fall to the ground, controlling his descent with bursts from his barely functioning jetpack. The pain was too much, and he finally lost consciousness and plummeted uncontrollably.

The Patriarch threw aside the spent weapon and ran up to where Miller was falling, catching the Blue Suns commander before he hit the ground. Slinging him over his shoulders, the Patriarch looked up to see where the debris had buried Thane and Aria, the catwalk still surprisingly maintaining its integrity under the weight of all that steel and stone. But the wailing sound of metal in the air brought a grim smile to the Patriarch's lips, and the catwalk suddenly begun to warp and dip under the strain of all that rubble. Content to leave Aria to her faith, he turned around and started to walk away.

"Thane…!"

The Patriarch stopped in his tracks and turned around to see Shepard clumsily standing up, clutching his right shoulder as his right arm hung limply to his side. His helmet had a hole that revealed the left side of his bloody and bruised face where the armor had shattered under the Patriarch's blow, blood freely running from his brow and lip. The commander's gaze was locked onto the catwalks where the drell and asari were buried. The krogan's face cracked into a smile. "My respect for you goes up little by little the more you surprise me, Shepard."

"Patriarch…!" Shepard snapped, suddenly turning to face him. He stumbled and leaned back on the wall, trying to keep himself up on both feet. "I thought you were a man of honor!" he spat out. "I didn't expect you'd reduce yourself into a damn flunky for the Blue Suns!"

"A _flunky_?" The Patriarch's smile eventually split wider into a bellowing guffaw. "Who do you think made all of this possible Shepard? Do you think the merc groups would unite as one for any sum of money?"

"Then you are…?"

The Patriarch nodded sagely. "Yes indeed, I am the architect of all this chaos. With my resources, I enabled the mercenaries to deploy thousands of troops and move virtually unseen into the station. Under my banner, they have a united direction and purpose." He boasted. "How did I do it, you wonder? A simple bit of misinformation here and there goes a long way. Aria had become complacent, a fatal mistake for anybody who holds the throne of Omega. It rightfully belongs to me, and I mean to take it back." He glanced up at the unmoving form of Miller on his shoulder. "This one has fallen short of his objective, but he may still prove useful yet."

But Shepard wasn't listening anymore. All he cared about was that so many were dead just for one man's lust for power. "Aria should've killed you when she had the chance." He snarled. "And I should've let you die!"

"Given your circumstances right now, I agree entirely."

"Shepard! What happened? We heard an explosion and-!" The conversation was interrupted when Anto and his men filed back into the Afterlife, weapons raised to investigate the commotion. He blinked in confusion as he surveyed the scene. "Patriarch? Why are you carrying Miller? What the hell is going on here?"

Shepard's ribs ached as he yelled out to Anto. "He's betrayed Aria!"

"Is this true, krogan!" Anto said, all guns now pointed to the Patriarch and Miller as he and his men formed a firing line at the archway separating the main club from the long entrance hallway. "Answer me!"

"This may be a point of interest to you, Anto." Patriarch began nonchalantly, taking a few steps back. "As of this very moment, there are nearly a dozen more bombs hidden all around us."

"What?" Anto replied, the men around him now starting to feel uneasy at the news but kept their sights on the krogan.

"He's telling the truth…" Shepard added from where he stood. "The whole place is rigged to blow. But we have the detonator, so it's an empty threat."

"Indeed?" The krogan continued. "These bombs were originally designed to explode in successive intervals upon activation of a detonator signal. But I made certain to install certain fail-safes into these weapons."

Anto lowered his gun, "What kind o-?" He didn't have the opportunity to finish the question as an explosion blossomed under his feet, engulfing him and those around him in white hot flames until they were torn apart by the sheer concussive force of the blast, obliterating the floor and nearby structures as well.

Shepard lost his balance and fell back from the force of the shock wave, showering him with dust and debris. He turned to see a smoldering crater where Anto and the pirates once stood on. "No!" All of those men. The men who he had fought alongside of just moments ago. The men who were simply happy to be alive when the smoke cleared. it didn't matter if they were pirates, not anymore. All of them were now dead.

The Patriarch however, stood proudly against the blast wave, shielding his eyes from the dust. "As I was saying, the bombs explode if they are not disarmed after a certain period of time." He turned to regard Shepard. "Still alive, Shepard? Hah! You _are_ hardy! It was a stroke of luck on my part that the first bomb to go off was right there, wasn't it?"

"You monster…"

"I wouldn't concern yourself with me, Shepard. The next one explodes in less than 2 minutes, followed by another one after that. And another, and another…" He started to walk towards the entrance of the club, Miller in tow. "I'd be disappointed if you died here."

"Stop!" Shepard roared, but the Patriarch merely walked on, ignoring him. "You bastard!" The sound of rubble shifting made him turn around, thinking another explosion was about to rock the place. Instead, the sound was coming from high above, where arcs of biotic energy were piercing through the rubble that lay over Thane and Aria. Shepard shielded his eyes as a burst of blue energy blasted aside the debris, revealing Thane cradling an unconscious Aria in his arms. "Thane!"

Thane leapt downwards, slowing his fall with his biotics as he gently lowered himself to the ground. Aria stirred in his arms, opening her eyes, alarm suddenly gripping her. Thane looked down at her, speaking softly. "We are safe, for now." He assured her.

She looked around her and regained her bearings. "You… you had biotics?"

Thane merely nodded his head in reply, earning a quick slap in the face from Aria.

"Then why didn't you use it against Miller, you idiot!" she snapped.

"I chose not to." He replied, earning him another slap. Surprisingly, Thane just took it, unfazed.

"You self-righteous asshole!" Aria nearly shrieked in frustration. "You could've taken him out handily!"

Shepard shook his head in disbelief and shuffled over to the two. "Hey!" he shouted at them, causing both of them to suddenly become aware of his presence. "We have to get out of here! The whole place is about to blow up!"

Just as he said that, another bomb exploded, fortunately, far off from where they stood, almost right next to where the ruins of Aria's lounge lay.

Aria shielded her eyes as Thane carried her off, unable to walk on her own and too drained for her biotics. "NO! My Afterlife!" she protested, horror gripping her. "There must be something we can do? Please, not my Afterlife…" she pleaded.

Shepard quickly limped beside them, all three of them now desperately trying to make for the exit past the initial crater. "It's too late now, Aria! What's more important? Your bar or your life?"

Aria merely sunk her head in despair as Thane carried her, reserving herself to silence.

Thane looked at Shepard, observing the man as he limped beside him. "Do you require assistance?"

"You've got your hands full."

"And you are lucky to have any limbs left at all, from the looks of it." Thane countered. "So tell me, are we just going to burst out the front door into the arms of the Blue Suns, or am I missing a key element to this plan?"

"Got any better ideas?" Shepard snapped back as another explosion rocked them from behind.

Aria grit her teeth as the pain was slowly coming back to her. It was fortunate enough that Thane's biotics were keeping her wounds from bleeding out. Her eyes widened as realization hit her. "Where are my men?" Aria demanded as she looked around for the others.

"Don't look down." Shepard replied quietly as he and Thane trudged through past the crater and the fallen rubble.

Despite his warning, her gaze wandered downwards to see bits and pieces of charred armor and burnt flesh. "You're joking… right?" Aria said, her voice quivering. "No… No…" Before she could fall into hysterics, Thane struck her with two fingers quickly on the temple with the hand cradling her head, knocking her out in an instant as her eyes rolled over, showing only whites.

Shepard just stared at the drell, who casually shrugged as they hurried out, more explosions blossoming behind them and shaking the very foundations of the building.


	19. Into the Fire

Chapter 18: Into the Fire

* * *

><p>Mordin looked around for any sign of trouble as the battle went on, carefully pushing several crates along on a hover-trolley. Unbeknownst to the Eclipse as they fought the more overt strike team, he along with Tali and Kasumi were tasked with counter-hacking the eclipse under their very noses. He says we, but it was the ladies doing all the digital labor, leaving him with the, ugh, grunt work. The tech oriented mercs were so busy with the more obvious threats that the salarian doctor was able to quickly roam around the underside of the ship and set up a ring of crates around them without anyone noticing. He dusted his hands as the consoles they've commandeered were now nearly fully obscured by the makeshift cover. All that was needed to be done now was hack the Eclipse.<p>

Tali's brow furrowed in concentration as she typed furiously into the console. She was the kind of girl who worked well under pressure, but this particular situation was a first in a long history of high pressure situations. Gunfire and explosions snapped in the air as Garrus and the rest of the strike team put up a show for the Eclipse to be preoccupied with, leaving the stealth team to their own devices. The task was relatively simple at first, but with each layer she broke through, the subsequent codes were ciphered even more complex. Once she was in the main system, she'd be able to disrupt the uplink of the virus into the Normandy. It didn't have to be a complete disconnection. Even a momentary stall in the frequency can give Legion and EDI enough time to reel back from the assault and bring the Normandy back up to speed again. Over all, it was easier said than done with all this chaos going on around her, but at least she was not alone.

Beside her, Kasumi was doing the same thing, focused on the other console. Being the best thief in the galaxy required certain skill sets. Hacking highly encrypted channels was merely one of them. With both of them working together, they picked up the pace and peeled back layer after layer of the Eclipse security software. "This thing is locked up tighter than most banks…" She mused, sifting through random data. "These codes are way past civilian grade stuff."

"Too tough for you?" Tali smirked, sparing the other woman a glance while she typed. "Didn't think I'd see the day the best thief in the galaxy would meet her match."

"Please, I just needed a little warm-up."

"Excuses…"

"Well pardon me; I forgot I was with programming royalty here." Kasumi retorted, her Cheshire cat grin gleaming under her hood. "Oh wait, whose incognito proxy were we using again? You know, the one that keeps us invisible to the system?"

"A minor detail." Tali replied, unfazed by an explosion that blossomed nearby, too engrossed in her work. "I'm the one running the show."

"Must be nice, power-tripping as the commander's girlfriend." Kasumi said, waggling her eyebrows. She was met with a bit of silence, and Kasumi immediately regretted her words. "Ah, right… Sorry." Still the quarian didn't say anything. "Come one, Tali, Shepard's practically indestructible. The man was too stubborn to stay dead, for crying out loud."

"I'm fine, Kasumi…" Tali began, not looking up from the console. "It's just that I sometimes wonder, what if I was too hasty with Shepard? What if I just rushed in this… this thing we have together? I know he has all these things he has to do. I know the burden he has to carry and… I just… Sometimes I think I just can't give him the support he deserves."

"So you're saying you don't love him?" Kasumi pointed out bluntly.

Tali's head shot up to look at Kasumi, with what could only be an incredulous expression beneath the mask. "What? No! I mean Yes! I mean-!" Tali stopped typing for a moment and sighed deeply, before going back to work. "Of course I… I love him." She said, shakily.

"Then I don't see the problem." Kasumi replied with an air of finality.

"It's… It's much more complicated than that, Kasumi…" Tali protested meekly.

"Does it have to be complicated?"

"What?"

"I asked you: Does it have to be complicated?" Kasumi repeated. "When Keiji was still alive, when we we're just starting out our 'thing', half the galaxy was on his tail. The klutz tripped up on a big job and we had to be on the run from a spectre and half the Palaven underworld." She giggled at the memory. "I say 'we', but all they were after was Keiji. I was still an anonymous ghost known only to a select few in the underworld's upper echelons. And nobody knew my connection to Keiji."

"But you still went with him?"

"Of course."

"So what did he do?"

"Well, he was tasked to retrieve an ancient heirloom, the sword of some great turian war hero, from the Imperial Museum by said hero's descendants." She began, "These descendants also happen to be one of the biggest organized crime rings to have come out of Palaven in the last Millenia. Talk about a fall from grace, huh?"

"No kidding…" Tali agreed.

"So anyway, he was halfway done, but somehow this salarian spectre was tipped off about what was going to happen and trailed Keiji all the way back to the drop off point." Kasumi said, shaking her head. "The spectre was good; Keiji didn't realize he was being tailed until it was too late. Long story short, the crime boss thought Keiji sold him out to the authorities and the spectre thought Keiji was in deeper with the organization than he actually was. So Keiji did what any rational thief would do: Make off with the goods."

"No way…"

Kasumi gave her that Cheshire grin of hers. "We were on the run for 3 whole years. We'd still do jobs of course, but there was always this hanging sword over our heads. If it wasn't the mob, it was the spectre, and vice versa." Kasumi could guess the expression on Tali's face. "It wasn't so bad, mind you; usually we'd get a heads up from our network of contacts, but sometimes we had to fight our way out of some carefully laid set-up. It was only when the crime ring was wiped out that we were able to operate with a degree of freedom again." She took a deep breath. "All that trouble for a measly sword…"

"Wait a minute…" Tali began. "Are you telling me that the sword in your quarters is an ancient turian relic?"

"Yep, don't tell Garrus." She winked.

Tali shook her head in amusement. "So what happened afterwards?"

"Well we took a little break on this beautiful resort planet…" she mused dreamily. "White sand, the crystal clear sea and the bright sun… It was all perfect. So that was when Keiji asked me to marry him."

"What?" Tali blurted out, not expecting that twist in the story. "I didn't think you two were married."

"We weren't." Kasumi clarified. "I told him no."

The quarian's jaw probably dropped, because it took her a few seconds to say anything. "But why would you say no?" Tali demanded, fully engrossed in Kasumi's story. "You stuck with him through what must've been the hardest trial you've had together! You loved him didn't you?"

"Oh yes, I did." Kasumi confirmed casually. "I loved him with all my heart."

"Then it doesn't make sense that you would just say no to him! If you really loved him you would've stuck by him no matter what! You would've given even what little you could! And now he's-!" The realization hit Tali like a brick to the helmet. "Oh."

Kasumi only gave her a sly grin. "Yep, now he's dead." She sighed, the soft smile still playing on her lips. "I loved that man with all my heart. I'd have done anything for him. But when he asked me to be together with him, I said no. Why? Because I was scared; It wasn't just the commitment that was scary, although that was terrifying in and of itself. No, it was the fear of letting him down. What if the same thing happens and I couldn't support him again? What if I screw up and put him through the same thing again?" She laughed, a quiet and sad noise. "The business we were in left no room for errors. Sure, I loved him with all I had, but it was much more _complicated_ than that." She turned to look at Tali, who had fallen silent again. "I often wondered, what if I had said yes to him? Then we'd always be together. Things may have gone differently with that whole affair with Hock. Who knows? Keiji may even be alive today." She sighed. "I've realized since then, that it didn't have to be complicated. It was as simple as a man and a woman, being in love."

"I had no idea, Kasumi…" Tali said as she typed into the console. "I'm sorry."

"Hush, girl, this isn't about me. I've made my peace." Kasumi said, soothingly. "I just don't want you to make the same mistake I did. I don't want you to be haunted by 'what if's' like I was. Granted, if the Reapers are coming, you won't be haunted for long. But still…"

Tali laughed, and then sighed as she mulled it in her head. "Thank you Kasumi, you have given me much to think about."

"Eh, I'm good for one of those pep-talks every couple of years…" She waved off, and then leaned in towards Tali with mischief in her tone. "Besides, if you throw away a prime catch like Shepard, don't be surprised if a lot of women come clamoring up for a little bite of him." she emphasized by clicking her teeth.

"Oh you better keep your hands to yourself, sneak thief." Tali warned playfully. "I haven't thrown him away just yet…"

"Oh please, Shep's great and all but the whole boy-scout thing is just not really my type."

"Boy-scout?" Tali asked, unsure of what that meant.

"Eh, it's an Earth thing." Kasumi shrugged. "Besides, I like my men a bit more…"

"Go on…" Tali urged her.

Kasumi stuck out her tongue. "It's a secret."

"Secrets huh…?" Tali chimed innocently. "I'm pretty sure you don't have a monopoly on those."

"What do you mean?" Kasumi asked, her interest piqued.

"Oh, let's just say..." Tali trailed off.

"Yes?"

"It's a secret." Tali finished.

"I swear, you're worse than Jack… Well, maybe a close second."

Mordin was keeping watch this whole time, not being a card in programming himself. Well, not in the same caliber as the two ladies he was with, anyway. Said ladies were having a very enthusiastic, yet out of place conversation on the battlefield, giggling like school girls while explosions blossomed all around them. He cleared his throat to catch both of their attentions. "Appreciate need for casual conversation." He began. "Lightens tension, brings up morale in highly stressful environment. Still, need to keep head in game, as they say. Mission must have our utmost attention."

He was met with a pair of raised eyebrows. Well, at least he could see Kasumi raising hers and just came to the conclusion that Tali was doing something similar. Amazingly, both were still typing as they did so.

He sighed and turned back around to keep watch. "Never mind, carry on." Mordin had master degrees in both salarian and xenos medical biology, and he still never could understand females. The two went on chatting, and he contented himself with spectating on the ongoing battle.

* * *

><p>If there was a word to describe a Justicar in the heat of combat, it was gracefulness. Samara spun on her heel as she dodged a storm of bullets coming at her, feeling the projectiles cut through the air and whizz by her face. The Ymir kept unloading it's machine gun as it tried to pin the Asari down, who was always one step ahead of it's deadly firepower. Like a well-tuned dance routine, she dipped, dodged and jumped over the arc of fire as the heavy mech kept spraying a seemingly endless stream of bullets at her. Her body was suddenly engulfed in a biotic aura, and Samara dashed without warning into striking distance of the Ymir.<p>

The Ymir raised a massive arm with the intent of smashing her into the ground, but the Justicar slipped between it's legs with a baseball slide and clambered up onto it's back. Pulling out her Locust SMG, Samara got up to its shoulders and jammed it into the space between the Ymir's head and the rest of it's body and pulled the trigger. The Ymir convulsed and sparks flew as bullets tore through it's inner workings. It took a couple of clumsy steps before falling to its knees, smoke coming from the gaps in its armor. She kicked off the mech as it face planted to the ground and onto the head of another. Samara pulled her fist back and buried it in the other heavy mech's optics.

With its sight gone, the second Ymir flailed wildly trying to grab onto the asari latched on top of it, only to end up punching itself in the face. The Ymir stumbled backwards, and Samara jumped off the mech, pushing it with her biotics as she did so. This caused the heavy mech to fall on top of the other Ymir she had disabled earlier. Landing a safe distance away, she pulled out a couple of grenades and lobbed them at the mech that was struggling to get up. The initial explosion tore through the mechs' armor, igniting energy cells and thermal ammunition, and lit up into a tower of fire and shrapnel.

Bringing both hands in front of her, Samara quickly projected a barrier to protect herself from the rain of debris. Through the haze of fire, she looked for another target. So far, their combined efforts have taken half of the mechs down, and the Kodiak was taking care of the Eclipse infantry from zeroing in on them.

Nearby, Jack roared as she rushed head long into an Ymir. The woman planted both palms firmly into the Ymir's chest and unloaded with a biotic shockwave that sent it flying backwards, crashing into another heavy mech, causing both to stumble to the ground. Her body shining with biotic energy, she leapt high into the air and smashed into the mechs, tearing through their armor and ripping apart gears and circuitry. If Samara was grace personified on the battlefield, Jack was sheer unbridled rage.

She stood up and inspected her handiwork, before planting her foot onto the Ymir's chest and grabbed it's head with both hands. With a growl of effort, she pulled on it until metal shattered and wires still connected to the neck like sinew slowly snapped one by one. With a final tug, the head finally came off and she smiled as she admired her trophy, wires sparking and tubes still dripping with fluids. A clicking sound to her left alerted her as another heavy mech aimed it's machine gun at her. She jumped off the mechs she just destroyed and ducked behind them as the Ymir peppered her cover with gun fire. Another tell-tale click as the guns went silent gave Jack the signal to start running as a rocket crashed into the down mechs, sending them up in flames.

The Ymir lowered its arms as it inspected the blazing heap, searching for signs of Jack. It found what it was looking for as the flames parted and Jack leapt through the gap, severed Ymir head still in hand. Like a bat out of hell, Jack shrieked her war cry, flames dancing around the shimmering shield covering her body as she drew the severed head back and slammed her trophy into the Ymir's face with such force that both heads shattered on impact, facilitating a mechanical meeting of the minds. The Ymir staggered backwards as its OS stalled from the force of the blow.

Jack stepped up in front of the stunned Ymir and scowled. Tossing the scraps of the head in her hand aside, she reached behind her and pulled out her shot gun, pumping the weapon before jamming it in what was left of Ymir's face. Pulling the trigger, the gun blasted it's payload from out the back of the Ymir's head, sending pieces of it flying everywhere. Smoke rose from the warped, metal stump that was left behind attached to the neck as the mech stood there lifelessly. Jack grumbled, seemingly discontented with this resolution. She lifted her boot in front of her and kicked the mech hard, causing it to teeter before falling backwards in a loud crash. "Well that was a fucking let down…" She murmured, her hopes for another big explosion unfulfilled. She perked up as she looked around her. "Still, there's plenty more where that came from."

Just as she said that, another Ymir raised its weapons at her from a distance. Before it could fire them however, a rocket crashed into it from behind, causing it's shields to shimmer and stagger the heavy mech. The Ymir turned towards the direction where the rocket had hit it, only to see a krogan running head long for it.

Grunt growled like a wild animal as he ran up to the heavy mech, eyes blood-shot with murderous intent. With a guttural roar, he tackled the Ymir with his shoulder, knocking the mech back. Whipping around with the rocket launcher, Grunt used it as a club and slammed it on the broadside of the Ymir's face, causing it to reel back further. "Go down, damn you!" Pulling his head back, he head-butted the mech in the chest with authority, causing it to finally lose balance and fall backwards. Getting on top of the struggling mech, Grunt lifted a heavy boot and curb-stomped its head inside out, drawing out his claymore and aiming it at the Ymir's chest. "And stay down!" He pulled the trigger, and a large bore round tore its way through the Ymir's armor, causing it's struggling to cease.

Another mech opened fire on him, but Grunt merely raised his arm to protect his face as the bullets bounced off his heavy armor. The shots that did penetrate did little damage as the wounds started to heal almost instantaneously. See, Urdnot Grunt was no biotic prodigy like the two women he was with. Instead, he was the culmination of a madman's vision for genetic purity, a deadly weapon given free will. He was stronger, faster, thought quicker, and healed faster, near comparable to a centuries old krogan warlord. He was the very ideal of _the _krogan warrior. "You want some of this?" Grunt yelled from across the battlefield at the Ymir who was showering him in bullets. "Come on!"

Breaking into a run, Grunt sprinted upstream a river of enemy fire as he reloaded his claymore. Blood and bits of his own flesh splattered on his skin but he paid no heed to the pain, lost in a blood lust. The Ymir saw this and readied a rocket, but it was too late. Grunt came upon the heavy mech in force, aiming his shotgun at the arm mounted rocket launcher and pulling the trigger. The shot ripped apart the rocket, which detonated and set up a chain reaction, igniting every other rocket in the Ymir's payload. Grunt skidded to a stop as the heavy mech burst in a cloud of flame, reloading his claymore. "Hah! Compared to the Collectors, these guys are nothing!"

* * *

><p>Filon dropped his binoculars in disbelief as he tried to rationalize the display he had just witnessed. 3 people had just destroyed a total of 10 Ymirs.<p>

3 people.

10 Ymirs.

He was obviously missing something blatantly obvious, because it made zero to no sense as to how 3 people could destroy 10 heavy mechs in such a manner as these 3 have. Lady Ionet had given him an ultimatum: Deal with it or die trying. And Filon had no intentions of dying anytime soon. He grabbed the nearest trooper to him by the collar of their armor and brought him face to face. "Tell me why the hell we haven't shot them down yet!" He demanded, spittle flying into the merc's helmet.

"It's- It's that Kodiak, sir!" The merc said in panic, "It won't let us near enough!"

"We are in an enclosed hangar…" Filon began testily. "WHY HAVEN'T WE SHOT _THAT_ DOWN YET, EITHER?" He shouted in the trooper's face. As if on cue, the Kodiak swooped from above, raining death with its cannons on their position.

The resulting explosions knocked Filon and several others aside, but the rest of the troopers and Loki's he was surrounded by weren't so lucky. Getting up to his feet, Filon wobbled from the shell-shock, but that didn't take away from the look of desperation in his face. All he saw and hear was the ultimatum: Deal with it or die.

"Get me the arc cannon!" He demanded as he reeled around the other troopers.

"The arc cannon? Sir, that thing is still in the experimental stages of-"

"I said: get me the arc cannon!" Filon howled. "NOW!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Afterlife was slowly starting to crumble from the chain of explosions, the ground shook as the trio of Shepard, Thane and Aria tried to make their way out.<p>

"The patriarch?" Thane exclaimed as he carried an unconscious Aria in his arms. Shepard had just finished recounting his earlier encounter with the broken, former krogan warlord of Omega, who turned out to be not so broken and trying to reclaim the title. They were almost halfway out of the long hallway, the going slow but steady, but the longer they lingered, the more danger they faced. "But it makes sense…" he said, "He has connections and influence, the most likely candidate to take power in Omega should Aria fall, if not the least respected."

Shepard limped alongside him, still clutching his right shoulder. "It also explains the general modus operandi of the attack." He said, forcing out the words as he walked. I was something to keep his mind from the pain. "Overt enough where people can see and hear it; It fits the bill of a krogan battle plan right down to a tee."

"And it also explains why he sent a sadistic psychopath after Aria." Thane continued, sparing a gaze at the asari in his arms. She was still unconscious, a small mercy considering how she might end up killing herself exerting energy in her undoubted rage over the incident. "Miller mentioned something about making goddesses bleed first. I think simply killing Aria wasn't enough for them. They had to break and desecrate all that she stood for."

"Much like what she did to the Patriarch…" Shepard added. True, Aria wasn't a saint. No, no, the truth was very far from it. If he were to compare her records with the Patriarch's, she would probably be just as monstrous, if not more so. But two wrongs do not make a right. Though she may be a tyrant, Aria was exactly what the Terminus systems needed to keep the balance of the Underworld. After seeing the Patriarch's new motivation in action, were he ever to take power, war would cut a swathe through this entire system. All this death was pointless, especially with the reapers coming. All of it just to satisfy one man's desire for power. He'd put a stop to it, Shepard vowed. Omega will not fall to the hands of the Patriarch. But first, he needed to get out of here alive.

The medi-gel could only do so much and the cybernetics could only push his limits so far. Every breath he took brought about a stabbing pain in his chest. His body sung in pain, what little of it that was spared was numb and insensate. By all accounts and purposes, he shouldn't be standing. But he was still alive, he thought as he willed one foot in front of another. He did not have the luxury of dying, not yet. Like a pack animal allured by a carrot at the end of a stick, one thought was egging him onwards. He would endure this, if only for her sake. He wouldn't break her heart, not again.

"Shepard!" Thane said, having stopped alongside him and bringing Shepard back to reality.

"I'll be fine." Shepard forced himself to say, limping on ahead. "How's Aria?" he asked, hoping to change the topic.

"She's lost a good amount of blood, and suffered severe injuries." Thane said, "The medi-gel has done all it can. She requires medical attention, but she's stable, for now."

"To think the patriarch was capable of this…" Shepard said, disdain clearly evident in his tone. "To think I once _helped_ him… He thanked me, you know? He told me I changed his life into… If I knew this would happen…"

"You did not kill all these people, Shepard." Thane replied, soft but with firmness. "You should not let what is done haunt you. You did what you thought was right. His sins are his alone. His atonement is his alone."

"That really doesn't make me feel better about the whole thing."

"No, I don't imagine it does." Thane replied. The ground shook as another distant explosion rocked the building. "Now that I think about it, how can one such as the Patriarch obtain the loyalty of not just the Suns and the Eclipse, but of an entire host of mercenaries?" Thane said, mulling the thought in his head. "Past deeds aside, from the last I heard, he was not one of the most respectable members of the Omega citizenry nor the most affluent. Men like Miller do not just bend their knees to anyone."

"And the Patriarch doesn't seem like he's willing to be a puppet for other people's agendas." Shepard agreed. "Not to mention the fact that Cerberus' ugly face could be in on this as well. It all adds up, but to what?"

"There are more than two faces to this story, it seems…" Thane mused, managing to stay on his feet as the Afterlife shook on its foundations, rocked by another explosion, dust raining on them from the ceiling. Next to him, he observed Shepard struggle to keep balance, the stubborn human trying his best to not drop to his knees from the brunt of his injuries. "Shepard!"

Shepard stumbled down, roughly landing on his left forearm, his legs having given in to the pain. Blood and sweat dripped from his face as he stared at the floor, his breathing ragged. Gritting his teeth, he painfully pushed himself up to his knees, slowly trying to stand back up despite the shaking floor. He felt something help support him, and he soon noticed a blue aura surrounding him and lifting him up.

"Easy, Shepard. I got you." Thane said as he aided him with what were basically biotic crutches.

"Thane, stop it." Shepard's voice was shaky, yet firm and venomous at the same time. "Discharge this field. Now."

"But you-…"

"Discharge it now!"

Thane did so, reluctantly, and he watched as Shepard gingerly readjusted to the weight of his body against the pain.

"I'm fine!" Shepard spat out, finding his footing and limped on ahead of Thane. "You can't spend too much energy, Thane! You know that! You're already burning out so much keeping Aria-…!" he stopped himself and took a deep breath, looking over his shoulder at Thane. "Just… just keep your focus on those biotic fields keeping Aria from bleeding out…" he said in a softer tone of voice that still managed to be as hard as rock. "Your mission isn't done yet, Thane. See to it that she lives through this. I'll worry about keeping myself alive, copy?"

Thane regarded the asari in his hands then turned to look at Shepard grimly. Tali was right, this man was stubborn as stubborn can be. "Understood, Shepard..." He replied, before another blast shook the Afterlife, and a blaze finally took hold of the club. Tendrils of fire slowly started to creep after them down the hallway. "I suggest that we hurry…"

"Well quit talking and start walking…"

They quickly made their way past the last few meters, the heat licking their backs as they hurried towards the sealed front doors of the Afterlife. Shepard raised his arm towards it, his omnitool flickering to life. Now he just had to hack the damn thing to get it open. He frowned as the codes started to match and override the locks. He always did hate hacking. The fire creeping closer to them wasn't doing him any favors either.

"Shepard…" Thane said, looking over his shoulder at the incoming blaze.

"Almost there…"

"Shepard…"

"Relax, just a little bit more…" The flames crackled as something thundered inside the club behind them.

"Shepard!"

The doors split open with a satisfying hiss. "Damn it, Thane! It's open, alright? Now let's-!" He was cut short as his eyes widened and a powerful shockwave carried them flying into the air and out the door, over the stairs leading up towards the Afterlife main entrance and sending them crashing violently into the plaza in front. Their shields shimmered and fizzled on impact, somehow absorbing the brunt of the fall. Thane had somehow managed to keep his hold on Aria, holding her tightly as he landed roughly on his back. The fall had winded him, but he was able to keep his focus and maintain the fields he was using to prevent Aria from bleeding out.

Shepard groaned as he pulled himself up to one knee and surveyed his surroundings. "Aw, crap…" Countless gun barrels met his gaze.

The blast had sent them flying alright, right into the hands of the Blue Suns. There was probably a whole company of the blue armored mercenaries stationed in the plaza, all of whom had their sights on the commander, Thane and Aria.

A blue armored batarian walked up to them, a cruel smile playing on it's face. "Well look at what we got here, boys." He said as he cocked his assault rifle, inspecting Shepard and the others. "I'm seeing promotion and bonus pay, hehe."


	20. Power and Defiance

Chapter 19: Power and Despair

* * *

><p>Tarrana raised an eyebrow in interest at the report she just heard. "Filon wants access to the arc cannon?"<p>

The asari commando in front of her fidgeted nervously. "Actually, it was more of a _demand_, my lady."

"O-hoh…" Tarrana mused, lips curling into an amused grin. "That gutless worm finally grew a pair, did he? Who knew this day would actually come?" She turned on her heel to regard the battle outside. The main office of the shipyard was fairly reinforced, for protection against conventional industrial hazards and the occasional pirate raid, situated in a far corner of the yard away from most of the action. It was a dark room, save for the lights coming from the many holoscreens depicting the chaos outside. It provided relative safety, but that wasn't a sure thing if this situation wasn't contained soon enough.

Tarrana was silent for a while, but the asari commando, Melina, knew better than to urge her commander to speak. The Omega Eclipse lived and died at the lady's convenience, and Tarrana has given ample examples of the latter using those foolish enough to cross her. Some may call her methods extreme or even eccentrically cruel, but Tarrana Ionet has long since proven herself to be a capable commander and peerless scientist and engineer. Her past prior to joining the Eclipse was unclear, but Tarrana had always said she was a noble lady of house Ionet, one of the exalted families in Thessia. Whether this was true or not, the asari of the Eclipse gave her their unwavering loyalty. She snapped back to attention as Tarrana's melodious voice spoke again.

"Yes, give him access to it; I am curious to see where this newfound determination will lead him. Should he fail, kill him." She said the last part as though it were a mere footnote.

"I shall send word, my lady."

Tarrana smiled in approval, which quickly disappeared as her eyes fell to another monitor depicting the scrapping of her Ymirs by three people.

_Three people_.

She sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose as another Ymir was scrapped and weighed her options. What was she paying these idiots for, anyway? Once they get the Kodiak downed, she could just send in wave after wave of her men 'til they eventually tire out and die. An excellent idea, she began to think, but then she's already lost so much, and she did need enough men for a crew after all.

The choice was clear to her now; she needed to send in her elite. "Oh, and dear Melina, once Filon has taken care of that dreadful Kodiak, gather your sisters and deal with _that_ for me, would you?" She said, pointing at the screen. "I want you to beat some humility into them and snap their necks."

"As you command, my lady. I will take my leave and gather the Luna." Melina said with a bow, before turning sharply and heading towards the door.

"Wonderful." Tarrana replied, eyes still glued to the chaos depicted on the monitors. The entire situation has turned out to be a disaster, but she's invested too much into this foray to back out now. If it took that worthless Filon using one of her experimental prototypes to get the job done, so be it. When the dust from this settles, she would happily let the patriarch and the Suns fight over total control of Omega. This ship was her only goal. The Normandy was a masterpiece among space-faring vessels, and she longed for it since she saw the specs from Cerberus. She had since decided that by hook or by crook, it would be hers, and woe befall any who stood in her way.

* * *

><p>Filon fidgeted nervously behind cover as the Kodiak's cannons rained devastation in the hangar, a chill of dread going down his spine. The shipyard was a wide open space, large enough to accommodate frigates and heavy cruisers, leaving the small ship with enough room to maneuver past the rockets and fire from the Eclipse troopers. Bodies went flying as the Kodiak swooped from overhead. They had tried choking the Kodiak into a corner, but when they seemingly had it pinned, it would slither its way out somehow and return fire with deadly effect. The improbability of it all was starting to give him a headache.<p>

"Damn it!" He yelled in frustration as he stood up and blasted his assault rifle at the retreating form of the small troop transport. "I need some heavies here!" he barked to the trooper next to him.

"Heavy squadrons 7 and 9 are regrouping, sir! No response from the rest!"

Filon grabbed the trooper by the collar of the armor. "What do you mean no response?"

"They're either pinned down or dead sir!"

"Damnit!" Filon growled as he shoved the trooper away. "Get on the comm and get me some damn heavies!"

"Uh, I think we're getting something better sir." The trooper replied, pointing at something.

"What?" Filon turned to where the trooper was pointing and saw a group of troopers hauling a large-sized reinforced container bearing the Eclipse logo between them, hastily making their way through the battlefield before the Kodiak could swoop back on them. The container was long and narrow, like a coffin, and Filon didn't need to read the hazard warnings etched on it to know what it was carrying. Truth be told, he didn't think Tarrana would have granted his request to use this weapon, but the woman did seem to truly want the Normandy for herself. He frantically waved the troopers to hurry. "Double time! Come on!"

The troopers slid into cover along with their cargo, setting the container down in front of Filon, panting and collapsing against the side of the cover. Without so much as an acknowledgement to the troopers who had risked their necks to deliver it to him, the salarian waved his omnitool on top of the container. There was the whirring of pistons and the hissing of depressurization as the lid shifted and split open, revealing the device that lay within. "Excellent…" Filon mused as he inspected the contents for a moment, before turning towards the exhausted troopers and barking at them. "This is no time to rest you fools; Suit me up! Quickly!"

The Arc Cannon did not so much look like a gun as it did a massive gauntlet, complete with a gigantic robotic hand, fingers and all, meant to be worn around the user's arm. The name itself was merely its prototype designation, more for what it could do than what it looked like. The troopers had a cruder yet oddly more appropriate term for the device among themselves: The Iron Fist. Of course, the sheer size and weight of the weapon would prove to be too unwieldy for anyone to use. It had to be worn in tandem with a special armor that served not only as protection for the user, but as both a harness and power source for the massive gauntlet.

The troopers worked swiftly and methodically as they latched the armor plates onto Filon's Eclipse armor, giving the salarian a bulkier profile and silhouette. Each piece snapped into place readily and locked securely with a satisfying pressurized hiss. The helmet was a transparent, dome shaped piece that fit securely around the wide, rounded collar of the armor, flickering with many HUD interfaces as the armor linked with Filon's omnitool. The heavy greaves were wrapped around his legs, and the metal boot pieces slipped underneath his feet, the pieces linking together and humming with power. Finally, the Iron Fist was fitted around his right arm, locking the device into place with the rest of the armor. With the armor fully assembled, bright yellow tech panels began projecting across its surface, adding another layer of protection for the suit.

The salarian inspected the weapon and flexed the huge fingers experimentally, finding it fluid and dexterous, much to his satisfaction. He looked around and saw the Kodiak in the distance, doing a wide turn as missiles and bullets streamed past it, seemingly missing by mere inches. "Stand back, men." He said as he powered up the suit and the air started to smell of burning ozone. "It's going to get hot around me."

He raised the fist in the air and small arcs of electricity and a reverberating hum started to emanate from the weapon as it charged up. The weapon was called the Arc Cannon for a very simple reason; it could polarize most subatomic particles into electricity and project this effect around a wide area. The mechanics behind it was a bit boggling, and Filon could barely wrap his head around the basic science of it all. Tarrana was a genius, pure and simple. A _homicidally unstable genius_, sure; but a genius nonetheless. Her designs bordered on the brink of magic and enchantment. It was also probably the main reason why Eclipse corporate HQ tended to overlook most of her eccentricities. It didn't matter right now, what mattered was that the Kodiak was coming around for another pass, and the device was now fully charged.

"Let's see what this thing can do!" Filon said as he pointed the fist in the general direction of the ship. There was a loud snap in the air as tendrils of lightning blasted from Filon's very hand, crackling with power as it rushed towards the Kodiak.

* * *

><p>Joker yoked the controls and performed a tight turn as he brought the Kodiak along for another pass. He wasn't a stranger to the dangers of war, but something about fighting in such a small ship, experiencing every jolt of turbulence and blast of weapon's fire, made him feel all that more mortal. The excitement was new, but so was the pit of dread in his stomach with each near miss from enemy fire. He was so sure they would've been shot down the moment he flew out of the Normandy's shuttle bay, but for some strange and twisted reason, they were still airborne. Beside him, Garrus was doing his magic on the weapons console, reducing everything that entered his crosshairs into ash. Whatever the pilot couldn't dodge, the turian made sure that he wouldn't have to. All in all, Joker had to admit that things were turning out better than he expected. That was when he noticed the sudden spiking in the atmospheric read outs.<p>

"Hmm… That's strange." Joker mused as he spared the interface a glance.

"What is?" Garrus asked, his finger squeezing the trigger every now and again.

"Barometer's going crazy, something must be something shaken up under the hood." He said, "According to this, there's a lightning storm in the vicinity?"

"Well if it isn't operation-critical, then we can tough it out." Garrus said dismissively. "Can you run a full systems scan on the fly? Just in case…" His eyes were busy scanning through the reticule of the cannons, searching for a target as they turned around for another pass. It was hard to miss the huge armored figure bristling with electricity that suddenly entered his field of vision. "What the-?" Before Garrus could even pull the trigger, an arc of lightning shot up from the figure towards them.

The first thing that happened was the sound of a million birds chirping filling the cabin as the Kodiak rocked with turbulence. Before Joker or Garrus could react, their consoles fizzled out and exploded in a shower of sparks and smoke. The cabin went dark as the Kodiak OS shutdown, the engines going silent. Inertia was carrying them for a while, but the growing pit in their stomachs grimly confirmed that gravity was taking over.

"SHIT! SHIT!" Joker swore as he shielded his face from the sparks. "WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?"

"Forget that!" Garrus snapped back as he tried to activate the holo interface on his side to no avail. "Can you get this thing started again?"

"Can I get this thing started again?" Joker repeated incredulously, gesturing at the shot up consoles and interface. "_Are you seeing the same things I'm seeing?_"

"Damn it!" Garrus growled. "Brace for impact!"

"Ah, hell…" _Brace for impact_. Joker hated those three words. It usually meant something in his body was about to imminently crumble like a week old cracker.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, not too long ago.<p>

Grunt tasted his own blood as it flowed from the massive gash beneath his eye, the wound slowly healing as his regeneration strained to keep up with the multitude of injuries he kept receiving. The Ymir had caught him unwary in his flank and had backhanded him a good twenty feet away, breaking several bones from the hit and more upon landing. The feeling had yet to return to his fingers when he raised his shot gun at the advancing heavy mech, firing a defiant shot that did nothing against the Ymir's fully charged shields and heavy armor.

Before it could descend upon him however, Jack crashed into the Ymir with a biotic charge from it's left, knocking the heavy mech off of it's feet. As it struggled to get up, Samara followed this up with a devastating slam, shaking the Ymir to it's core. Both women stood side by side as they focused their biotics together and sent a devastating shockwave towards the heavy mech, sending it flying back. It crashed into the ground, breaking into pieces as it skidded to a halt. They both stared at the wreckage for a few moments, glowing arms still pointed towards it as it started to catch fire, before they allowed themselves to ease up and let out a sigh of relief.

It had been one hell of a fight, but finally, they had taken out the last Ymir. They both shared a glance at each other, panting heavily and soaked in sweat and their own blood.

Jack rested her hands on her knees as she stopped herself from collapsing out of exhaustion. "Not bad…" She started to say to Samara in between gasps for precious air. "For an… An old lady…You still got it…"

Samara, who had somehow managed to stand perfectly straight despite her heaving chest, gave Jack her usual impassive look. "And for one so… So young… I'm surprised that… That you managed…" The mask of impassiveness broke and Samara let herself fall down to one knee, exhausted. "Managed to keep up with me…"

Jack burst into laughter at the sight, falling flat on her back with a big smile on her face. "Oh god, I feel woozy… Don't make me laugh anymore, please…"

The two were interrupted by a feral roar as Grunt slowly got back up to his feet, standing in a pool of his own blood. "Ugh… Thought that thing knocked my jaw off…" he said groggily, rubbing his leathery face gingerly. "Did we get 'em?" he asked to nobody in particular.

"Just about..." Jack replied, stretching on the ground. "How's your ugly mug doing?"

"Shove it…" Grunt replied weakly, his wounds slowly closing.

"Keep…" Samara began with a wheeze, picking herself up again. "Keep your guard up, we're still in the thick of enemy territory."

"Eh, don't worry about it… Garrus has us covered." She said, propping herself up on her elbows to turn her head and look at the Kodiak zooming by overhead.

Grunt sniffed the air, growling under his breath. "Anybody else smell that?"

"What?" Jack inquired. "If it stinks that bad, it's probably your upper lip."

"Shove it, Jack." Grunt shot back as Jack feigned being intimidated. "I'm serious. It smells like… Burning."

It was at this point that the sound of blaring static filled the air as what could only be described as a bolt of lightning shot up from across the shipyard and splashed against the hull of the Kodiak, wreathing it in arcs of barely contained electricity as it blew off part of the back thrusters and set something on fire.

"SHIT!" Jack yelled, getting back up on her feet, eyes trained on the crashing Kodiak. "Shit! They're going down! What the fuck was that!"

"Your guess is as good as mine…" Samara replied, quickly opening her omnitool and trying to raise either Joker or Garrus, but to no avail. She looked up at the Kodiak, trailing smoke as it streaked and tumbled downwards. "By the goddess!"

It crashed on the other side of the shipyard, the sound of twisting metal filling the air, obscured from view by the massive cargo trailers and crates that littered the hangar.

Samara's comm beeped, bringing her back to her senses as she saw it was from Garrus and opened the frequency. "Garrus?"

Silence.

Samara furrowed her brow. "Garrus! Come in, Garrus! Are you-?"

"We're alive," A raspy voice replied over the comm, "But just barely. Fire didn't spread, at least" Garrus said, coughing. "Joker's out cold but he's breathing. I don't want to move him, could cause more harm."

"Thank the goddess…" Samara whispered. "What _was_ that?"

"The blast was too big to be an Arc Projector..." He replied, "Judging by the fact that they haven't shot us _again_ means it takes a while to recharge. Be careful, I doubt cover is going to do any good against whatever it- ugh…"

"How bad are your injuries?"

Garrus hissed in pain over the comm before replying. "Legs are pinned underneath the console. I can still feel them though; Still 50:50 on how I feel about that." He said, his voice just barely covering his quiet hisses of pain. "Stopped the bleeding with some medi-gel, but I doubt that's going to do any good when the Eclipse converge on us."

"Not if we get to the Eclipse first." Samara replied, going back to her cool and calm demeanor. "We'll get you two out of there."

"Heh, I've softened them up enough for you guys, I guess." Garrus said, chuckling a little. "But you did just take on a dozen Ymirs. We're not in any immediate danger; don't take unnecessary risks."

Jack popped up over Samara's shoulder, butting in on the conversation. "Fuck that. That was just a warm up, Vakarian. Just get your crippled ass comfy, we're coming for you."

"Pardon me if I find that less than comforting."

Grunt limped over towards where the two women were standing, snapping his shoulder joint back into place as he did so. "Let's get this done." He said simply, spine cracking as he stood up straight, pulling out his shotgun, only to toss it to the side as he found out it was broken. "Fantastic. Anybody else got any guns left?"

Samara shook her head while Jack gave a resounding. "Nope."

"Hrrm, guess we'll have to pick some up along the way…" Grunt mused. Just as he said that, a blast of biotic force caught him in the chest, flinging him backwards and sending him crashing back to the ground.

"Grunt!" Jack yelled in surprise. Just before she could run to his fallen form, Samara grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her close. "Hey!"

Samara ignored Jack's protests and instinctively set up a barrier, protecting both her and Jack, as another biotic wave smashed against them. The force of the blast was great, but the barrier held.

Several yards away from them, seven Asari commandoes were slowly walking up to them, each holding batons crackling with electricity and wreathed in biotic energies. All wore helmets, ecept for the one in the middle, who held up a fist and the group stopped in unison. She took several more steps forward to stand in front of the others. "My name is Melina Asharad, and these are my sisters." she said, giving the Justicar a small bow. "We are the Luna Eclipse, lady Ionet's personal warmaidens." She announced, eye's locked with Samara's "You are known to us, Justicar Samara, so I offer you these terms: Surrender, and your deaths will be quick and painless. Resist, and you and your team will die slowly and painfully."

Jack scoffed at her words as she stepped away from Samara. "Stop being so fucking prim and proper." She said, her annoyance evident on her scowl. "You're nothing but a fucking thug, so stop pretending otherwise and act like it, bitch."

Melina raised an eyebrow at this. "I wasn't talking to you, _human_."

"Well fuck, you remind of Miranda before we made nice." Jack glowered, knuckles cracking. "I'm gonna enjoy unprettying that face of yours…"

"You are talking to me as if we were equals…" Melina retorted with amusement. "I do not know who this _Miranda_ is, but I'm insulted by the comparison. I'll beat some humility into you, and make you lick my boots clean."

As this went on, Samara looked at all of this with impassiveness, before sparing a glance back towards Grunt's unmoving form, laid out on the ground. As a Justicar, she held no social bonds, no family, no friends. She was the code given form; a tool to exact it's teachings. She had tried to make herself detached from Shepard and the rest of his motley crew. To her, they were only soldiers she was made to fight beside. A tool had no need for such trivial things as comrades. So why does seeing this young krogan, bloodied and broken, make her fume so much? "Actually, Melina…" She said, turning to face the asari in question and garnering the attention of those around her. "These are my terms for you and your sisters. Go to hell." A violent glow suddenly engulfed her body as she dashed forwards, catching Melina unawares as her fist connected with the mercenary's face, sending her flying backwards. The other members of the Luna could only look on, frozen in awe at the eerily calm expression on Samara's face. " And die."

Just as the other asari were about to converge on her, batons ready, Jack jumped up from behind Samara. Her fist was glowing with energy and she landed in front of the Justicar, punching the ground as a nova blast knocked the Luna backwards. "I always knew you had a soft spot for us." She said to the Justicar as she got up. "You really like us, don't you?"

"I know not what you speak of."

"Can I call you grandma?" Jack teased. "I never had a grandma."

"Focus on the task at hand, Jack…"

"Sure thing, granny."

Samara just looked at her. Both of them were at their limit, unarmed and outnumbered, but they couldn''t give up now. Jack seemed to get this too, and the human woman gave her one of her cocksure grins. It was an unspoken pact between the two of them; they can't die now, not to this. They nodded to each other in acknowledgement, before Samara dashed to the left and took on 3 of the asari who were knocked in that direction, while jack turned to the right.

Jack grinned towards the other remaining 3 asari, who were already getting back up on their feet. "I swear to god I hope your _big sister_ is still alive, girls." She began, cracking her knuckles as they ran up to her. "I really want to kill her myself."

As the ladies proceeded to do battle, Grunt flipped onto his belly and pushed himself up on his knees and elbows. "Frakking biotics… I should get me some of those…" He mumbled as his omnitool rang. "Would tear them apart if we were on a level playing field…" he continued as he fumbled to open his comm. "Ugh… Grunt here. Bit busy at the moment, over."

"Grunt? Mordin here, hacking in progress, what's all the commotion we've been hearing?"

Grunt sighed as the feeling returned to his legs. "Well, doc, if you must know…"

* * *

><p>It was dark, Miranda thought to herself, and silent, too. She couldn't exactly remember what was going on or where she was, all she knew was that the silence was slowly being broken by dull throbbing noises that crept into her head. She could make out the snap of gunfire, and the murmured voices around her. It was hot, but she clearly felt the cold metal floor under her back, and the warmth of someone kneeling beside her. She felt pain resonating from her midsection and decided that was one sensation she could've done without. The darkness melted away and she slowly regained her vision, blurred at first, but steadily coming into focus. The first thing she saw was Jacob's face, looking down at her with worry. "What…?" she tried to say, but only managed to mumble out. She tried to get up, but he gently pinned her down.<p>

"Easy…" he replied, trying to stop her from getting up. "It ain't bad, but let the medi-gel do it's thing first."

She tilted her head in confusion and looked down at her torso. There was a red patch on her side around the otherwise white uniform where a bullet had broken her shields and tore into her flesh.

"Just a flesh wound." He said reassuringly.

The pain started to fade away as the medi-gel patched her up. She remembered now. They were leaving the Lower Afterlife when an explosion tore through it, engulfing the club in flames and sending them flying. Sure enough, when she turned her head, she saw that the hall that normally led to the lower entrance was a twisted, burning wreckage. Something clicked in her head, and she suddenly snapped into attention and sat up. "The pirates…!"

"That blast was huge…" Jacob only looked towards the fire and shook his head.

Miranda was not one to be attached or emotional, but the news made her feel sick. She had promised those men and women that she would get them out of there alive. She had failed them. She knew now was not the time to dwell on such things, in the middle of hostile territory, cut off from the Normandy. But it still panged at the back of her mind. Her reverie was broken when Jacob stood up and offered her his hand.

"Come on, we got to keep moving."

"Thanks." Miranda took his hand and let herself be pulled back up to her feet, the medi-gel having nearly patched up her side. That was when she remembered something else: Shepard and the others. "Any word from the commander?" She asked, a bit ashamed she hadn't thought of them first.

"Not since before the blast, I can't reach his comms." Jacob replied, pulling out his shotgun. "But don't worry about him. I'm starting to believe nothing can kill that man."

"You forget how we first met him…" Miranda said as she took out her pistol, checking the specs and ammo. "And not that I care much, but where's Zaeed?"

Before Jacob could answer, his comm buzzed. "Speak of the devil." He said as he opened the channel.

The grizzled veteran's voice was hushed as he spoke through the commlink. "Zaeed here, areas clear up until the plaza; there's a whole gaggle of these bastards congregated there."

"Copy that, we can just slip past them and-"

Zaeed cut him off. "They have Shepard, Thane and an asari who I believe to be Aria T'loak herself at gun point." He said grimly.

Jacob cursed under his breath while Miranda opened her own frequency to Zaeed, her brow furrowing in concentration. What started out as a simple 'meeting' with Aria had degenerated into one disaster after another. If they weren't fighting for their lives against insurmountable odds, they were being flung about like ragdolls in an explosion. All within the same week of coming out of the Omega relay alive, he might add. All in all, they were long overdue for some vacation time when all was said and done.

Miranda however was back to her no-nonsense, professional attitude as she spoke to Zaeed. "We're heading out to your location." She began, already starting to walk off. "What are the odds against us?"

Jacob said nothing as he walked alongside her, keeping an eye out as they listened to Zaeed's report.

"I'm counting 30… No, 32 troopers. Three Legionnaires and a centurion among them. They're in a pretty open area with little cover, and they made the mistake of not surrounding Shepard and company. Bastards are just menacing them at gunpoint." Zaeed said in a hushed tone. "Don't have my sniper rifle on me and I'm down to the one grenade. Unless you have a grenade launcher on your person, Miss Lawson, we'll be hard pressed for crowd control."

"What's Shepard's status?"

"Unfortunately, we can't count on them for support right now." He continued. "He looks right banged up, and so is Aria. Thane seems to be the only one who can even raise a gun right now, but the other two will weigh him down. They're sitting ducks out there."

Jacob calibrated the settings on his shot gun and set it to Inferno rounds. "Zaeed, is there a way we can get close in without being seen?" He asked through the comm. "We just have to strike them hard and fast and make off with the commander and the others before they knew what hit 'em."

"I like your spunk, but no. They're right smack dab in the middle of the open." Zaeed replied with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. "Besides, against 32 men in the open? Those are slim chances, Taylor."

"And here I thought you had a death-wish, Zaeed."

"Heh, there's a difference between dying and losing on purpose."

Miranda just shook her head and tried to make some sense of into the situation. "If they're still alive, it means they want to take them alive." Miranda mused. "They must be waiting for transport. We're almost at your position, keep an eye on them."

"Hold on." Zaeed suddenly blurted.

"What is it?"

"Shepard's keeping the goons distracted… and Thane's reaching for something in his jacket." He clicked his tongue. "Best get here sooner than later, things might get messy."

"Copy that." Miranda said, picking up the pace with Jacob keeping up beside her.

* * *

><p>Shepard tried not to let the pain show on his face as the blue armored batarian in front of him, a Centurion, stared him down. Going by the smug look on the batarian's face, he was mildly successful. They had literally just gone through a series of deadly events and now here they were, stuck helpless in front of a large group of Blue Suns mercs, injured, unarmed and out in the open.<p>

The adrenaline had long since faded, and he began to feel the pain of a very long day finally stack up. His body ached, his limbs refused to move, his fingertips were numb, and the coppery, stale taste of sweat and blood was bitter on his tongue. His face was black and blue on one side where the Patriarch gave him the mother of all sucker-punches, and a split lip adorned his mouth. Shepard grit his teeth as other, newer pains started to arise from all over his body. Even his tech implants were having a hard time doing literal damage control. No matter how he looked at it, he probably wouldn't be able to shoot that smug look off of the centurion's face. He chanced a quick glance beside him, were Thane was kneeling, clutching an unconscious, half-alive Aria, protectively close to him.

The drell still had the stoic mask on his face, but Shepard saw the hint of panic in Thane's eyes that betrayed his tension. Even now, the master assassin was probably going through dozens of scenarios of how to get out of this alive, with each one ending in a frustrating failure. If anybody could get them out of this situation though, it was Thane. Shepard just needed to buy him some time.

The centurion kneeled down to face Shepard eye to eye. "Hell of a day for you, too, huh?" he said casually before laughing into the commander's face, prompting his underlings to start laughing with him. "My, my… I don't know how you did it but you just killed off damn nearly all my rivals on the food chain to command." He started, flashing rotten teeth in a crooked smile. "And wouldn't you know it, just when you're 'bout to run out of gas, you fall right into good old Ulklan's hands… The great Commander Shepard." He chuckled, full of himself. "After the number you did on the boss, he'll give me a pretty penny and a promotion if I turn you in alive so that he could deal with you himself." He reached behind him and pulled out a heavy pistol. "But if you ask me really nice like, I can kill all 3 of you right here, right now, and save you a world of pain." He shoved the gun into Shepard's face. "What will it be, Shepard?"

The men behind him were laughing and joking as Ulklan the batarian centurion toyed with their captives. But Shepard kept his mouth shut, glaring daggers at the batarian.

Ulklan frowned, he didn't like having captives who weren't completely broken. It was the slaver inside of him. He drew the gun back and whipped it across Shepard's face, knocking the commander into the ground. "I asked you a question, damnit!" He roared, shoving the gun in his face again. "Answer me, worm!"

Shepard cough as blood filled his mouth again, murmuring something incoherent.

Ulklan grinned, thinking his prisoner was broken. "Speak up, prisoner." He urged him.

Shepard turned away to spit out blood and looked back right into the batarian's eye. "God are you ugly or what?"

A couple of snickers broke past the silence from his men, and Ulklan's face grew red with rage. He stood up and kicked Shepard across the head. "Fucking human bastard!" he turned to address his men, "Who the fuck snickered? Was it you, Klorr?"

Meanwhile, as the batarian beat the commander, Thane was busy going over many scenarios in his head. He was in a similar situation once when he was cornered, injured and unarmed, during one of his hits and instantly knew several ways to strike. However, the big difference here was that now he was also responsible for two incapacitated and fully grown people, and collateral damage was not an option. He had an ace up his sleeve however, or more appropriately, in his jacket. He had a single flash bang left from the arsenal he had brought to ensure Shepard's visit to Aria go unimpeded.

His eyes looked around at their captors. Not a single one of them was training their guns on them. They were laughing, carefree and their guard down. They were safe in their numbers they thought, taking comfort that they were the top of the food chain in this situation. They were wrong, however; None of them were safe, as they made the mistake of keeping Thane alive.

His hand slowly snuck inside his jacket and gripped the grenade while his eyes eyed the gun that was lying several feet away from him, his actions going entirely unnoticed. He could take this chance. By all means he should take this chance. The odds of them dying were high, but it was the best decision to make considering every other scenario led to certain death.

Just as his muscles tensed to strike, there was a series of blinks in the distance, in an open window from across the plaza that caught his attention. It took a moment to process what he was seeing to recognize it as a code known only to hanar-trained drell assassins.

_DO YOU SEE ME? I HAVE A CLEAR VIEW OF YOUR FACE. BLINK IN RESPONSE._The message said, repeating itself over and over again.

Thane chanced a glance at the commotion going on around him. Shepard was now being kicked repeatedly and beaten down by a group of mercs with Ulklan orchestrating it all. They beat him savagely, but Shepard was still alive. He turned back to the blinking light and returned the code with a series of blinking with his eyes.

_YES, I SEE YOU_. Thane began, trying to keep the message clear as he blinked. _ARE YOU FRIEND OR FOE? _

A tense few moments passed by before the blinking light in the distance altered its patterns, coding a new message.

_FRIEND._

Thane was still suspicious, but he couldn't deny the rush of relief coursing through him. He was about to reply, but his new 'friend' wasn't done sending him a message.

_WHEN I GIVE YOU THE SIGNAL, LIE AS FLAT AGAINST THE GROUND AS YOU CAN._

Thane raised his eyebrow slightly, and blinked back. _HOW CAN I TRUST YOU?_

There was a pause before the reply came. _LOOK TO YOUR NINE O'CLOCK. YOUR OTHER SQUADMATES ARE LYING THERE IN WAIT FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO STRIKE. GIVE THEM A HEADS UP._

Sure enough, when Thane took a glance to his left, he saw a flash of orange armor that was undoubtedly Zaeed, lying prone along the ramp going up from the market district. Knowing that the old human was watching him, he started signaling the mercenary with human sign language, telling him to get ready to strike. He looked back towards the blinking lights and replied: _ALRIGHT, I AM PUTTING MY FAITH IN YOU._

There was another long pause before the reply came back.

_IT IS IN GOOD HANDS, BROTHER. NOW COUNT TO THREE._

* * *

><p>Zaeed cursed as he saw the gestures Thane was making at him. "Shit, what does this guy have in mind…" He mumbled, as he lay prone on the ramp leading upwards towards the plaza, peeking over the edge, rifle at the ready. Beside him, Jacob and Miranda were also lying prone, brandishing their heavy pistols.<p>

Miranda turned to face him. "What's wrong?" she whispered urgently.

"He just gave me the signal to get ready to fire."

Jacob did a spit-take, having been busy looking over the situation. "He _what?_"

Zaeed shook his head. "Well, if the man says so…"

Miranda was about to protest when a shot rang out in the plaza, and another, and another. Somebody was sniping the mercs from somewhere in the distance. No, she corrected herself, not just somebody. Judging by the rate of fire and number of targets hit, it was a _lot_ of somebodies.

Before they could say anything else, the three of them rose up and began to open fire as well, catching the Suns in their flanks.

* * *

><p>As the first shot rang out, Thane threw himself prone on the ground and he reached for the pistol lying forgotten beside him. He lay on his belly, his body covering Aria's as he line up a shot, blasting the jaws off of a Turian from below.<p>

All around him, the mercs dropped like flies, completely unprepared for the slaughter that was unleashed upon them. Blood splattered everywhere as great vessels on their necks were penetrated and punctured. If not that, then it was the grey matter of brains from blown open skulls.

Some of the mercs had enough time to raise their guns, firing blindly everywhere as they screamed in terror. Ulklan seemed terrified above all, his voice rising in pitch, yelling shrill orders to his men about getting into formation and brandishing his shotgun meaninglessly. It was a beautiful moment, Thane thought, when a high-powered shot tore into the batarian's neck, nearly severing his head from his body. In almost the same instance, another shot blasted his skull like an overripe fruit, his head and neck turning into a gory fireworks display.

What lasted mere seconds seemed to take forever, but sure enough, it was finally over. Wach and every merc that had been standing around them now lay dead on the ground via a most gruesome and violent way. He looked beneath him and was relieved to see Aria safe from further harm. He heard the sound of heavy boots tapping on steel floor and he knew Zaeed, Jacob and Miranda were converging on him even before he turned his head.

Zaeed was approaching quick but cautiously, his rifle up as his eyes scanned through the bodies around them. If he would happened upon one that wasn't quite dead, he would be more than happy to send them on their way. Each and every body they came across however was dead as dead could be. "Bloody hell…"

Miranda knelt down beside Thane, who politely brushed her off.

"We're fine… Go look at Shepard." He said to her urgently.

They found him out-cold and buried underneath a mound of bodies. He was covered from head to toe in blood, most of which not his, but still breathing.

Jacob and Miranda worked swiftly as they applied medi-gel onto the commander's many injuries. With Zaeed keeping watch.

The grizzled merc turned to Thane, confusion evident on his face. "What the hell was that, Krios?"

Thane merely looked up at him from where he was still lying down, looking tired and disheveled. "Friends."

"Friends?" Zaeed asked, still confused.

The voice that answered Zaeed from behind him was definitely not Thane's. "Friends."

Zaeed whipped around, rifle at the ready, but saw nobody there. "I swear I must be getting soft in the head in my old age…" He muttered, looking for something that clearly wasn't there.

Suddenly, the empty air in front of him crackled and shimmered, revealing several fully kitted-out commandoes, wielding huge Widow heavy sniper rifles in hand, and dressed in non-descript, but still oddly uniformed, black and white light armor. Their faces were all masked, their eyes hidden by red-tinted goggles.

Jacob and Miranda stopped whatever they were doing and drew out their guns, joining Zaeed in aiming at the soldiers who uncloaked in their midst.

Miranda got up and walked cautiously towards the new arrivals, who made no move to defend themselves. "Who are you?"

They heard someone clear his throat, and in front of the commandoes, another figure uncloaked, shimmering into existence. "We seem to have gotten off the wrong foot." The newly revealed drell began, dressed in a similar fashion to Thane. "My name is Feron. The Shadow Broker sends her regards…"

At this, Shepard stirred from where he was lying. "Liara…" He managed to weakly say.

Miranda looked at the drell in the eye, who still made no move to defend himself, and lowered her gun. At this, Zaeed and Jacob followed suit. "The Shadow Broker sent you?" she asked.

"Yes, there will be time to explain later, but things are not quite the way they seem here on Omega…" He looked past her and towards Shepard and Aria. "I have medics with me. Would you let them see to your injured? Once they are stable we can move to a safer location."

Miranda nodded her head and without further prompting, two of the commandoes set aside their guns and made towards Aria and Shepard respectively. "Thank you…" She replied, exhaustion slowly creeping up on her. "What do you mean things aren't as they seem here in Omega?"

"We are here to investigate the Patriarch."

Thane perked up as he heard this, kneeling beside Aria as the medic tended to her. "I can answer that." He began, catching everybody's attention. "The Patriarch seems to be the puppet master behind this chaos."

Feron whistled. "A pretty impressive feat, if I may add."

"Yes. From what I hear, nobody thought the Patriarch had it in him anymore."

"Oh no, I wasn't talking about that…" Feron dismissed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that the krogan warlord known as the Patriarch has been dead for weeks."


	21. Power and Desire

Chapter 20: Power and Desire

* * *

><p>Filon watched his handiwork with glee as the damned Kodiak finally went down, crashing on the far side of the hangar, obscured by huge cargo crates. The armor was smoking, stray tendrils of electricity arcing out from it as the arc cannon on the iron fist powered down. "This thing is amazing…" He mused as he inspected the massive gauntlet, eyes shining with new found confidence. He turned towards the men around him, all seemingly in awe at the display. "Alright Junter, I want your squad to recon the crash site. I want no survivors." he said, pointing with a huge finger towards their target's direction. "The rest of you are on damage control. I want this perimeter secured again and get me a tally of our casualties and losses." He then added "And don't get in the Luna's way! I don't need that sycophant, Melina, breathing down my neck…"<p>

The troopers saluted him and then proceeded to go about their duties, a small contingent of which making their way towards the pillar of smoke where the kodiak's wreckage lay. Filon looked across the large hangar and took in the destruction and devastation of this one mission. There were easily dozens dead and nearly twice that much mechs destroyed. All of it just to acquire this one ship.

The Normandy SR2 was indeed a top of the line ship and Cerberus did give them the right to salvage it. The tech they could get out of the one of a kind star cruiser would raise their stocks exponentially. Still, Filon thought, Tarrana could have done better to avoid this bloodbath. There were subtler methods they could have employed like gassing the ship, or venting the whole hangar. Anything was probably better than this bloodbath. She was not loved, but this surely did not help her reputation with the others in the group.

Well, except maybe for her asari fan-girls, the most devoted of which forming the Luna Eclipse. Filon cringed at the thought. He knew most of the girls from before Tarrana's arrival; head strong and brash with a 'better-than-you' attitude. They were a handful for the old commander to deal with, but for some reason, they worshipped the ground the 'Lady of the Eclipse' walked on. Like be got like, he supposed. The Luna Eclipse were Tarrana's elite troopers, each fanatically devoted to her to the point of happily laying down their lives just to protect hers.

An interesting thought entered his head as he inspected the specs of the suit as it charged for another blast. He ran a through scan of the system; there were no wireless connections of any sort or traces of any failsafe override programs. He checked his omnitool and confirmed that the Luna Eclipse were still busy with the squadron from the Normandy. Power crackled from his very hand as tendrils of electricity emanated from him. All this power, maybe, just maybe…

His sights were turned towards the main office of the shipyard where Tarrana hid herself out of harm's way. His legs started to move towards it, the pneumatic workings of the armor giving each step a satisfying thud. Tarrana was proving to be a brilliant but flawed candidate for command. Maybe _he_ could do better.

He opened up his comm and recalled the troops. "Actually, belay those orders…" he began, holding down the quivering of his voice. Once he utters the next line, he would have delved into the point of no return. So be it. "We're going to have a little 'union' meeting… Who else is dissatisfied about our current management?"

* * *

><p>Kasumi had to face-palm when she heard the news. "Seriously?" was all she could manage to say after Mordin relayed recent events to her and Tali.<p>

"Seriously?" Mordin repeated, baffled at her response. "Kodiak crashed! Crew mates in danger! Unknown circumstances! And all you have to say is 'seriously?'!"

Kasumi raised her hands, gesturing Mordin to calm down. "Easy, doc… Just having a hard time to believe our luck has gotten this bad, is all." She began. She turned towards her data feed and checked the progress of their little hacking procedure. "We still have a little way to go, can you handle the rest solo, Tali?"

The quarian didn't even take her eyes off the console, fingers typing furiously as she replied. "I'd probably go faster with you two out of my way…" She said slyly, before changing to a more heartfelt tone. "Please get everyone back alive."

"You got it, disengaging link now." Kasumi replied as she unhooked her connection to the system. "Anything goes wrong, give us a holler. We'll limp all the way back if we have to."

"I'll be fine; just don't let anybody see you two on your way out." Tali said warily, monitoring the datastream. "And be careful, you two."

Kasumi just grinned while she checked her locust SMG. "Right back at you." She replied, before turning to Mordin, "Lead the way, doc."

"Synching data with your omnitool." He began, "Will come across Jack and her team, first. Suggest we split up there. I'll aid them, you proceed to where Garrus and Joker are."

Being the stealthier of the two, she agreed to the plan. "Let's do this, then."

As her two companions skulked off, Tali immersed herself once more into the data. It had taken a bit of effort on both her and Kasumi's part, but they've managed to by-pass countless firewalls to get into the heart of the Eclipse network. Frankly, it all seemed a bit too easy, but she wasn't going to question her luck. Try as she might, she could not touch the viral uplink into the Normandy without the risk of tipping off anybody else in the system. Frowning slightly at this, she decided on a different approach. She introduced the Eclipse network to a special little program she had been working on. She had designed the virus to randomly insert, swap and alter codes into various programs of whatever system it was exposed to. While strictly not destructive, the chaos that would ensue would hopefully lag the data uplink enough to let EDI and Legion throw in a sucker punch at the Cerberus virus.

* * *

><p>The asari commandoes of the Luna Eclipse were no rank and file troopers. That much was for sure as they danced with grace and coordination, overwhelming Jack and Samara through sheer numbers. They had separated the group of 6 that was attacking them, each taking on a smaller group of 3 to deal with individually.<p>

Jack's breathing was ragged as she bobbed, weaved and dodged through the swings of batons and flurry of punches and kicks trying to hit her vital points. Leaning back as a punch went wide, she raised her knee to strike at one of her foes kidneys, but she was knocked back by a pair of boots to her gut from the other two. Even before she could reel back from the blow, the three asaris fell upon her again, their crackling batons stripping her shields and singed her skin. Before a yell of pain could escape her lips, Jack was lifted by biotic energies and hurled across the shipyard, landing roughly. She fought through the pain and managed to get back up again, just in time to leap out of the way as the three of them crashed right where she was standing in an explosion of biotic energy.

She was drained and exhausted, and they'll probably kill her at this rate, but no way in hell was she making this easy for these bitches. Calling on what little reserves she had left, she ran for them and dashed into a biotic charge, knocking her opponents back for a change and giving her a moment's respite. Numbers didn't matter, it never did. She had tons of experience with fighting multiple foes at the same time since she was a child, in death matches more for her captor's entertainment than scientific curiosity. She remembered the rush as they flooded her with endorphins every time she killed. Those monsters made her love killing and wanton destruction; the feeling was almost comparable to sexual release. She hated it, and despite herself, loved it at the same time. Since the people who raped her humanity were all dead, she'd take out that frustration on these high-strung skanks.

She picked the one to her left and lunged at her, slamming her elbow into the visor of the asari's helmet which cracked on impact. Staggered, the asari backed away while flailing blindly with her baton, a move Jack easily dodged and leaving her opponent open. Before she could capitalize on this however, the other 2 commandoes were on her instantly, knocking her away as they covered their injured sister.

Jack backed away, but the asari held their ground. The two who knocked her away were whirling their batons menacingly as the one she elbowed was shaking the cobwebs from her head. "Well? Come on!" She roared at them, arms wide open. "Come at me, bitches!"

The commandoes looked at each other for a second, then back at her, before breaking into a dash. They covered the distance between them almost instantly, thrusting their electrified weapons towards Jack's vital points.

Just as the weapons were about to make contact, Jack purposefully tripped herself backwards to avoid them. Not the most glamorous way to dodge, but it worked out well enough as the batons harmlessly passed above her. With a sweep of her leg, she spun around on the ground and caught the asari who she elbowed earlier by her knee, relishing in the sickening crack that ensued. The woman fell down in a cry of pain, dropping her baton in the process. Jack drew her leg back and kicked her hard in the face, smashing the helmet in and knocking her back. She then picked up the still crackling baton and got to her knees, swinging it in front of her to block the attack of the other two. Clenching her free hand into a fist, Jack set up a barrier just in time as the kicks intended to go to her gut slammed against it. It was weak and didn't last long, but she took the opportunity to back away and create some space between them. The one Jack kicked in the face squirmed helplessly on the ground, crying in anguish as she tried to take the helmet off, no doubt the shattered bits of her visor cutting up her face. The other two didn't even bother checking on their fallen comrade this time. Instead, they dashed towards Jack and unleashed a flurry of blows.

Jack was agile, but not agile enough to dodge from each strike. Not that dodging was much of an option. The electricity would course through her in savage pulses, burning her cruelly and knocking her mind off for a split second before she regained control of her body again. She'd retaliate, but her foes would block or dodge her wild swings with ease. Her world went white as a fist connected to her face and her body went limp, sending her sprawling on the floor.

She couldn't move, but they didn't stop there. They converged on her like vultures and went at her for what seemed like forever, not intent on giving her a clean death. The two asari took turns kicking her in the gut, alternating those between jabs of their electric batons. Jack could only groan in pain as her body struggled to keep together. Finally, the beating seemed to stop, and she opened her eyes to see one of the commandos standing above her. The asari's baton was raised in the air, no doubt to try and stab her to death with it. Jack had been in similar predicaments before. Some idiot would always get the upper hand on her and would stupidly try to relish the moment. There was one thing she found out throughout those situations, though. Be it male or female, nothing turns the tables quite as poetically as a good kick in between the legs.

She struck with what strength she had left right on the mark, the force of the kick actually raising the asari in the air. The commando yelped in pain and fell onto both knees, straddling Jack, dropping the baton and both hands grabbing her crotch in agony. Jack sat up and wrapped her arms around the asari's neck in a deadly embrace. Before the commando could react, she twisted and neatly broke her neck with a clean snap. Tossing aside the limp corpse from her lap, Jack got up, only to have the last standing asari rush at her, wailing in fury.

The commando came at her angry at the death of her sister, flailing her baton wildly. Jack was worse for wear, but all she needed was one last push of energy. She managed to duck underneath the swing and punch the asari in the gut. She went with the momentum and spun around, slamming her elbow into the back of her opponent's neck and following it up with a punch to the back of the head for good measure. The asari fell to the ground limp.

Whether her opponent was dead or unconscious, Jack didn't care. No trash talk this time, she was too busy gasping for air. Her body was past exhausted at this point. She fell to her knees and lulled her head lazily towards her last surviving opponent: The asari she had kicked in the face. The commando was still clutching her face, the shards of her visor apparently having cut a major blood vessel as the asari now lay motionless in a pool of her own blood.

She looked off to where Samara was still fighting, wanting to dash off immediately and help her. But her vision was stating to dim. She tried to get back up on her feet, but her body would not listen to her anymore. Spent, Jack fell face-first to the ground and drifted into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, Samara was having her own problems against her opponents. Up to now she has fared well, being able to match the three commandoes and keep up the pace to avoid being overwhelmed. She broke off from the skirmish and raised her hand, urging a pause in the battle. "You are all skilled. Young. It would be a shame for you to die here…" she began, her eyes following the three commandoes who were circling her warily. "I will give you this last warning. If you press on, you will die." Her hand pointed towards the far end of the hangar where the exit was. "Turn back now, and you shall be spared."<p>

The commandoes looked at each other, then back at her, before breaking into laughter. "Is this senile old hag serious?" the one in the middle said. "Come on, lady. If we kill a Justicar, our reps will be set for life!" They just kept laughing as they charged at her, their musical laughter mixing with the crackles of their electric batons. "The lady will favor us if we present her with your head!"

Samara looked almost sad. Almost. "Very well, I shall oblige you the will to die." She managed to say to her opponents before they converged on her like a pack of ravenous hyenas. As a Justicar, the code had always compelled her to violence where it saw fit, usually alone with the odds stacked highly against her. Three asari commandoes would usually be a walk in the park for her. But she was tired, and the adrenaline could only carry her for so long. Her movements started to get sloppy, and the effort of exertion showed on her face. The commandoes delivered blow after blow, chaining together attacks like a hurricane. Slowly but steadily, more and more of their attacks started to break through her defenses. Her opponents noticed this and redoubled their efforts, smelling blood in the water.

Drawing on her biotics, Samara sent a pull field towards her opponents to slow the pace of the combat. It was no use as one of her opponents countered with a pull field of their own, negating the effects of hers as the two biotic fields clashed against each other. The three commandoes jumped over the resulting explosion and descended on Samara, bodies shining with biotic auras. They suddenly accelerated as they did a series of biotic charges, intent on crushing the justicar from above.

The air around her warped as Samara focused her aura into a barrier. Her opponents crashed towards her, and she barely dodged as they slammed against the ground, unleashing an explosion of energy with each impact. Her barrier protected her from the shockwaves that splashed against her, but it was still enough to throw her off balance and send her stumbling to the ground. Before she could find her footing, the commandoes were upon her, striking her simultaneously with shining fists in the gut, sending her flying backwards and crashing into a heap on the ground.

The commandoes laughed at her in the distance as she got up to all fours, panting heavily. Her gut burned as she felt the bile rise in the back of her throat, giving way to the sharp taste of copper as she threw up blood. Now was a very poor time to suffer from organ damage. Samara forced herself up to one knee as she fought back the urge to retch. Her eyes glowed as she used her biotics to help her get up.

Before she could even stand straight, she felt another field wrap around her own and lift her up in the air. She turned to look over her shoulder just in time as two of the mercs delivered a flying kick to her back, one to each kidney. The attack tore through her barrier and the pain resonated through her being, the enemy field holding her steady.

This wasn't the first time Samara thought she was going to die. She had lived more than half a millennium and suffered injuries more severe than her current situation presented. And that was even before she took the justicar's oath. It was her sheer tenacity and purpose that always brought her the will to survive. She couldn't let herself die back then, not when she still had a purpose to fulfill. But this time was different. This time, she had no other reason to live. She had already killed Morinth and earned part of her redemption. A justicar's life was often short and violent, with barely a handful living to their matriarch years.

She was already out of it when she was lowered to the ground. Maybe… Maybe it was her time to die, Samara thought to herself as the commandos closed in on her, each of them full of cruel intentions. But just as she thought that, her eyes wandered to where Jack lay motionless on the ground. She didn't notice that the other woman had already beaten her opponents up 'til now. Maybe it was the blood loss, maybe it was the concussions, but something about her losing didn't sit right with her all of a sudden. If she lost now, Jack's victory would have been meaningless. She felt her fists clench until her knuckles went white and grit her teeth 'til they gnashed. Maybe this wasn't when she was supposed to die, she thought to herself again. Maybe this was when she should find a new reason to live.

Fighting through the pain, she stood up, much to the surprise of her enemies. Samara turned to them, bloodied and beaten, her words barely a whisper when she spoke. "This is your last chance to run away…"

"Run away?" One of the commandos repeated incredulously. "I think she's suffered brain damage, sisters!" She announced amusedly as her two other companions laughed. "Enough of this charade! Let's put this bitch out of her misery!" With that, the commandos rushed her, killing intent practically oozing from their auras.

Samara grunted in pain as the batons sent wave after wave of unforgiving electricity into her body with each hit. Just before she could recover, two of the commandoes grabbed both her arms in an arm-bar and tried to force her to her knees, while the third one was in front of her, about to lash violently with the baton and aiming to crack open her skull.

Going with the flow of the pressure from the arm bar, Samara did a front flip and converted it into an axe kick, slamming her heel hard into the one in front of her and sending the commando staggering from the unexpected blow. Still using the momentum, Samara brought her arms together, knocking the two mercenaries holding her into each other and making them let go. Her eyes glowed a vivid blue, and she sent the two staggered commandoes flying with a quick biotic pulse.

The one she had kicked had recovered and dashed between her two sisters with a biotic charge, lashing out with a powerful strike with her baton. Samara caught her by the wrist, the crackling baton mere inches from her head, standing firm as the force of the charge pushed her back. Samara pulled in her opponent and lifted her leg, wrapping the commando's arm around her leg and planting her boot to her side. Samara suddenly applied pressure to the commando's arm, pulling her shoulder joint out of its socket with a sickly pop. Her opponent yelled in pain and dropped her baton in the process. Samara caught the baton before it hit the ground, whirling it in her hand before stabbing the weapon through the commando's visor and into her face. Unwrapping her leg from the commando's arm, she kicked her away as the commando began to convulse from the electricity.

The asari shrieked as 30,000 watts of electricity scorched through her head, searing her pretty face and cooking her eyes white. She convulsed violently on the floor, her screaming cut short as smoke rose from her body, filling the area with a horrid, burnt stench. The other two commandos watched in horror as their sister was electrocuted to death, quickly transferring their horror into rage as their eyes fell on Samara. The justicar merely stood there, shaking from her injuries, looking on at her handiwork with cold impassiveness. No rage, no horror, not even the slightest hint of satisfaction. She just stood there and watched; her eyes simply dead to the world.

"You…" She strained to say as her throat burned, "You have raised your hands against a justicar; the embodiment of the code." She said with a voice as cold as her stare, her words bearing no emotion whatsoever save from the raspiness of injury. "As it is written, I have warned you of the consequences. You chose to ignore my warning, and now the punishment is death." She got into a combat stance. "Will you throw yourselves against death, or will death have to hunt you down?"

The commandoes visibly fumed at her words as their fallen comrade's corpse roasted with electricity. "You talk big for someone on their last legs!" One of them sneered at her. "You will die for that! Do you hear me, you hag? Die for that!"

"And yet here I am…" Samara replied calmly, blood dribbling down her mouth, her body showing signs of exhaustion and punishment. "Here I am, still standing."

"Not for long!" The commando roared as she and her sister ran past their dead comrade towards Samara. Their bodies glowed as they accelerated to a biotic charge. "Now die!"

Samara closed her eyes and wreathed herself in biotic energy once more. Just as the commandos were about to make contact, her eyes snapped open, and tendrils of biotic energy shot forth from her and pierced her opponents' barriers and into their flesh. Reave was a biotic ability she considered taboo, as it sapped the life of her enemies and let her drink from it like a fine spirit. It would not heal her miraculously, but it would give her enough strength to do what is necessary.

The commandos were stunned, but the inertia of their charge still threw them helplessly towards the justicar. In a span of a moment, Samara drew back both fists, charging them with biotic energy. As they approached, she lashed out with both hands, catching both of them with a vicious blow to their chests. Armor plates shattered and flesh ruptured as the force of the blow crushed the hearts of the last two members of the Luna Eclipse. They were dead before they hit the ground.

Samara took a moment to make sure they were dead before dropping to her knees, panting heavily. Her gaze wandered towards Jack and she started to slowly crawl towards the other woman, her vision starting to dim and blur as she fought through the pain. She managed to make it halfway before a boot stomped heavily on one of her hands, crushing her fingers as it ground her hand to the floor. The pain didn't even register as she looked up to the owner of the boot with an expression not unlike confusion.

Melina, the leader of the Luna Eclipse, stared back at her with tears streaming down her face. "You… You lowly bitches…" she said as her body trembled. "You killed my sisters…!"

Before Samara could reply, Melina kicked her across the face, sending her sprawling on the ground. She spat out blood before she could manage to talk. "They would not listen…" She whispered hoarsely, "I had no choice but to kill them…"

Melina grabbed her by the throat, choking Samara and pulling her up to stare at her face to face. "No, no, you don't understand…" she began, her voice quivering.

Samara's eyes were shut as she grabbed Melina's hand to try and pry her off. However it was to no avail as the other asari held its grip around her neck like a vice. She opened her eyes, but she was unprepared for what she saw. Mere inches from her face, Melina's lips were split into a maniacal grin.

"Thank you so much, Justicar!" She announced, barely able to control her excitement, a hot red flush tinting her features. "Now I don't have to share Lady Tarrana's attentions! Now my Lady Tarrana will love Melina the most!" Her eyes glazed over and her body heated up at the thought, her breath hot and heavy. "Oh… Oh… My lady…" She cooed as Samara could only look on in confusion.

This was strange, Samara thought to say the least. It took a lot to scare the justicar, but the look on Melina's face honestly perturbed her. The commando's pupils were as small as pin-points, her eye's seemingly sunken. She tried to muster her biotics to defend herself, but she was past her limit, only managing to flicker a thin spark of energy around her before it fizzled away.

Just as if she remembered something important, Melina's eyes centered on her again. "But first, you and your friend must die." Unnatural strength lifted Samara into the air as Melina drew a glowing fist back. "Goodbye, justicar, I will always be in your debt." She said happily.

Before anything else could happen, a shot rang out, and a smoking bullet hole appeared between Melina's eyes, the blood splattering all over Samara. She let go of the justicar, who landed on her knees, while she slumped limply on the ground, dead.

Samara turned her head to see Mordin looking down the smoking barrel of his heavy pistol. The salarian slowly approached the corpse, keeping it in his crosshairs until he was certain it was dead. Satisfied, he holstered the pistol and hurried to Samara's side, giving her a quick scan with his omnitool. "Sorry for delay, had to move slowly, risk attracting attention." He began. "Hmmm, Internal hemorrhaging. Traces of organ injury. Multiple cuts and abrasions. Hairline fractures along ribcage. Concussion, likely. Blood loss, evident." He said as he tore a small hole on Samara's sleeve and produced a syringe. He quickly stuck it in her shoulder before she could protest and injected her with a cool, blue liquid. "Hemostatic agent. Should control hemorrhage." He explained curtly as he tossed the empty syringe over his shoulder. "Stay still." Running his omnitool over her, he applied a generous amount of medi-gel. "Should stabilize you until transfer to med-bay."

Before Samara could say anything else, Mordin hurried off and went towards Jack, busying himself with her injuries. As far as she could see, Jack was still unconscious and Mordin was taking his time with her. Her eyes wandered to where Melina's body lay on the ground, a pool of blood forming a crimson halo around her head. She couldn't place her finger on it, but something was not right.

"Mordin killed her? Too bad…" a voice booming voice behind her announced. Samara turned to see Grunt limping over to her. "Wanted to get a couple of shots in myself… Are you alright?"

"I am… I have been better." Samara replied weakly, "Right now, I am more bothered than anything else… How are you, Grunt?"

"Regeneration's kicking in, I'll be fine in a few more minutes." He mused, looking into the distance. "I agree, something's not right…"

"You saw her eyes, too?" Samara asked, eager to not seem crazy.

Grunt blinked in confusion. "Her eyes? What?"

"Nevermind…" she replied, turning away. "What do you mean, something is not right?"

"I'm talking about the Eclipse." Grunt replied, "We're ripe for the picking standing out here in the open. Where the frag are they?"

* * *

><p>Tarrana bit her lower lip as she surveyed her monitors, taking an account of the situation. From her control hub in the shipyard's main office, she had just witnessed her little pet project, the Luna Eclipse, slaughtered at the hands of the enemy. If anything, she was more disappointed than devastated. This was a major set-back, but not an irreversible one. She looked around her to her asari underlings, knowing full well there was more where that came from. A shame about Melina though, she had shown such promise. Something caught her eye, and she zoomed in the video feed for a closer look at Melina's corpse. A smile broke into her somber expression. It would seem Melina still had some surprises in store for her opponents.<p>

Overall, the loss of the Luna Eclipse was not in vain. The Normandy's defenses had been whittled away, leaving the ship ripe for the taking. Now where oh where were the rest of her troopers when she needed them? Filon had been showing such promise as a leader too. It would be quite a shame to let this opportunity go to waste.

That was when the door to the office exploded, revealing Filon standing over the rubble and backed by her non-asari lieutenants. "My, my… How rude…" Tarrana mused as her asari troops raised their weapons at the newcomers. "And what an awfully crude use for my Arc Cannon, Filon… Tell me, what is the meaning of this, hmm?" She said in her sing-song tone. "No, never mind, I'm sure the reason would bore me. Now, why don't you be good little boys and girls and take the Normandy for me, yes?"

Filon had a cocksure grin on his face as he raised the massive fist, pointing it towards Tarrana. Electricity started to crackle from it. "We've had enough of your 'eccentricities', _my lady_." He announced, spitting the last part out as his entourage raised their weapons as well. "This is a mutiny, Ionet! Surrender and we may be convinced not to kill you!"

Filon expected shock, indignation, rage even. But what he didn't expect was that same insufferable amused smile that always seemed plastered on her face. Tarrana simply crossed her arms over her chest and dipped onto her hip, giggling quietly to herself. This bitch _was _crazy.

"Maybe you do not fully comprehend the situation, Tarrana." He said, taking a couple of steps toward her. "I'm taking control of the Omega Eclipse away from you. You never even deserved it, you outsider!"

Still, nothing. She just stared at him like he was some dog, yearning for attention. The thought of her showing how much better she was even in this situation infuriated him to no end. The time for words was over.

"Fuck you, you crazy bitch." Filon snarled as an arc of lightning blasted from his hand, swallowing everything in front of him.


	22. Power Overwhelming

Chapter 21: Power and Destruction

* * *

><p>Omega was burning, and if you asked any of the older krogan or asari locals, they'd tell you it was high-time that it did, too. Throughout its history, the station's leadership was measured by the rule of strength and weighed in the blood of one's foes. Regimes came and went, and they always changed in a sea of violence and bloodshed. Such was the way of the space-station's political schema. For the longest time, Aria held the seat of power, but it just so happened that the other gangs decided that it was time for a change. Gunfire filled the air as those loyal to Aria engaged the usurpers in combat. Fighting was rampant in the streets, buildings, and even the cramped maintenance shafts of the station. Flames consumed entire sections and the streets were filled with the dead. Civilians took shelter where they could, or fled the station entirely on whatever vessel they could get passage on.<p>

Somewhere in the orange-hazed, smog-filled skylines of Omega, a small convoy of three unmarked trucks zipped past the chaos towards the shipyards. The convoy acted as a mobile safe house for the Shadow Broker agents as they circumnavigated around the chaos ensuing in the space station. In the back of one, Shepard sat with his back against the wall, stripped from the waist up, with one of the Shadow Broker operatives tending to his injuries. Tech implants or no tech implants, his body had taken a beating. He gritted his teeth as the wounds on his face were cleaned by the operative, a fussy salarian who'd mutter something about keeping still every now and again. Despite the bumpy ride, Shepard was thankful that the salarian's hand was steady. His chest was black and blue, and another operative came up to him and applied medi-gel on his injuries. Shepard took a deep breath as the salarian finished up and took his leave.

The other members of his team were making the most out this brief respite given to them. Thane was sitting missing his jacket, with his legs crossed and eyes closed in silent meditation. One would make the mistake of assuming his guard was down, but even at his most relaxed, Thane gave off the aura of a tightly coiled snake about to strike. Zaeed on the other hand was dozing off in a corner, cradling his rifle as he snored softly, sleeping through turbulence that would wake any other man. Jacob and Miranda were sitting quietly next to each other, sharing a canteen of water and eating a couple of protein bars the operatives had offered them. Miranda had been spending most of the ride trying to hail the Normandy without success.

In the middle of the floor lay Aria, the undisputed ruler of Omega, strapped onto a stretcher and still unconscious. Well, _former _undisputed ruler of Omega. Shepard wondered how much of Omega she still had under her control after this catastrophe. Aria was betrayed, her forces taken in surprise and overwhelmed by the combined forces of the mercenary groups. The Afterlife had fallen, along with her elite cadre of pirates and top lieutenants. It was a blood bath and now the whole station was devolving into a warzone or a slaughter, depending on who you asked. What forces she had left were scattered across Omega, disconnected from one another and lacking centralized leadership, fighting a battle from all sides. He knew it would only be a matter of time before her men were totally wiped out or defected to the enemy.

She laid there half naked, save for Thane's coat which was used for a blanket, with two of the operatives tending to her injuries. An IV line hung from a small post beside her, infusing her with blood and fluid. The operatives were busy trying to extract bullet fragments from her knees and cleaning her mauled hand where Miller had blasted off three of her fingers. It looked bad, but Shepard knew it could've been much worse, and that it was far from over.

If it wasn't for the timely intervention of Feron and the other Shadow broker operatives, they'd all be captured or dead. The drell was sitting across from him, adamantly talking on his comm for most of the ride.

"No, do not get involved. Keep up your cover and stay in your apartment… Can't let all them kill all of us if worse comes to worse..." Feron said to the person on the other end of the line. "Just keep me updated on movement patterns… I will call you in two hours. If I haven't, that would mean I'm dead. Over and out."

As the drell hung up, Shepard took the opportunity to talk to him. "Thanks for the save." He said weakly, his sides hurting with each word.

"It's nothing." Feron dismissed, standing up to sit alongside him. "It barely even covers the debt I owe you, Shepard."

"Nah, between that and saving my corpse from the old Broker, I think we're pretty much square." Shepard said, turning to look at the drell. "How'd Liara get a squad here so quickly?"

Feron tilted his head closer to him and whispered urgently to his ear. "Please do not use that name."

"Ah… Sorry." Shepard said, realizing his carelessness.

"No matter…" Feron dismissed. "Just like in every major playing field in the galaxy, the Broker always had agents in Omega. Given the order, we're able to mobilize these agents into formidable strike teams capable of surgical operations or just wanton destruction. From merchants to mercenaries, the Broker has eyes and ears that see and hear every whisper and handshake in the dark."

"You make the Broker sound omniscient." Shepard said.

"Well that was the ideal, anyway…" Feron admitted, leaning back against the wall of the trailer. "Several weeks ago, while you were still cruising around the galaxy righting like a knight errant, our people in the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse were silenced. It's not uncommon for one or two to be found out due to chance or carelessness, but to have all our agents eliminated in a single stroke? Something big was about to happen in Omega and somebody wanted the Broker blind and deaf to it. There had to be a hand guiding the sword, which is where I came in." The drell pulled out a small canteen and took a sip from it. "I was still… reeling from my experiences with the Broker's predecessor, but I was also the only one that could be trusted in the event we had a double agent ratting us out. My investigations led me to every dirty back room and shady corner in this damn station, and all I had to show for it were loose threads and dead ends. I had almost given up when I ran into something interesting while reading up message transcripts. It must've been an oversight, but it turns out we never had much data on the Patriarch."

"I was meaning to ask you about that." Shepard cut in. "You said he was dead? How? I just saw him not more than an hour ago and he was very much alive then. Did you kill him on the way to us?"

"An hour ago?" Feron asked, brow furrowing in confusion. "I saw him die weeks ago, Shepard. I saw his body consumed by flames."

"What?" Shepard said, taken aback, pointing a finger at the swollen side of his face. "Ghosts don't have a right hook that hits like a freight train, Feron."

"That… That can't be right." Feron said, taking out his datapad and scrolling through his news feed. "Not only is it unlikely that the news he is still alive would slip through our info net, I also saw him die, Shepard. Maybe it's an impostor posing as the Patriarch…"

"It's a damn good impression if it is." Shepard replied, "You saw him die?"

"With my own eyes." Feron urged.

"He could've regenerated."

"From ash?"

"We're both obviously missing something crucial here." Shepard conceded. "You were investigating him, right? What did you uncover?"

"The Patriarch had always been a footnote figure in Aria's reign of Omega. Asides from being the former ruler that Aria had overthrown to gain power, little else was known about him." His eyes fell to Aria's unconscious form, lying a few feet away from him. "After she had beaten him to an inch of his life, crippling his legs and crushing one of his hearts, Aria let the Patriarch live, but killed everything else about him. His personal records were purged, his closest associates killed in cold blood, and for a time, uttering his real name was punishable by death. After the first century of her rule, the krogan warlord was considered impotent. By the second century, only the hollow shell called Patriarch remained. Unfortunately for Aria, this provided the Patriarch a since overlooked advantage…" He paused for a bit, to let the information sink in to Shepard. "And that was he was always overlooked."

"_Dralafa_?"

"Precisely. I see you've learned a thing or two from your drell companion…"

"I picked a couple of things up."

"Anyway… I did some digging and I found that he had a habit of disappearing for days on end, then reappearing without so much as an explanation for his disappearance. Previous investigations into these actions revealed he was passed out drunk in some of the bars of the lower section. So he was written off as a useless drunk and no further follow ups about his movements were made." "Whoever made that call was careless. Krogans live long lives, and have memories twice as long. Because of that one report writing him off as harmless the Patriarch has been going around unchecked for decades, Shepard. That's a long time for resentment and lust for vengeance to fester. So as soon as I could, I started tracking him."

"Find anything interesting?"

"The first couple of days were as adventurous as you could imagine for a broken old man in Omega. It seemed that all he cared about was booze and loose women." Feron began. "But I stuck with him. With the Merc groups in total lock down, he was the only lead I had, if you could even call it that." He offered the canteen to Shepard who gladly accepted it. "My persistence paid off. In a rundown bar, seedy even for Omega's standards, I found out he was relaying information about Aria to Lucas Miller, commander of Omega's Blue Suns. From what I gathered, they were planning an assassination attempt. But seeing all this right now and looking back on it, I seem to have underestimated the means they would go through to dethrone Aria." He took a deep breath as his eyes glazed over, looking blankly into the distance.

"… Feron?" Shepard asked tentatively. When the drell suddenly jerked, he realized Feron was immersing himself in a memory.

"The district was dank, sleazy even for Omega's standards. The eyes of vermin glowing in the dark corners, watching your every move, waiting for an opportunity to drag you away. The ripe smell of dead flesh intermixing with garbage and refuse, overpowering the lingering smell of smoke and stale alcohol. The listless, lost souls, living wasted lives, wandering without purpose. The old krogan navigated the winding alley ways with familiar ease, and I'm hard pressed to keep up and stay undetected. It seemed like hours before he finally stopped in front of a rundown apartment complex. I followed through the ventilation systems, my hands and knees sticky with grime as I crawled on all fours in search of my quarry. I found him in a room with another one, a human. They were talking animatedly, I listened as well as I could but didn't garner any meaning to what they were saying. Before I knew it, the human exploded in a burst of flame swallowing the entire room in a sudden inferno. I saw the Patriarch immolated into ash before it became too dangerous to keep watching. The heat was intense, my skin burned, my throat was dry and my eyes stung, but I managed to crawl my way back out of the ducts before I succumbed to unconsciousness." He blinked and shook his head, trying to get over the unpleasant memory before it overcame him. "When I came to, I was surrounded by other operatives who were fortunately shadowing me. The entire complex was engulfed in flames, and I saw the Patriarch die, Shepard. This cannot be the same person that you saw tonight."

"I'm not saying you didn't see what you did, Feron." Shepard began, "But the Patriarch was behind this revolt and it was the Patriarch who was there at the Afterlife. Impossible as it may seem, he must've staged the entire thing to throw you off of his scent. Without the Shadow Broker knowing, there was no way his little uprising could have been found out."

"Perhaps…" Feron conceded. "But I know what I saw, something is not right here."

That was when a bluish haze suddenly filled the truck. Aria's eyes snapped open and flung the medics off of her. She sat up, clinging Thane's jacket against her bare chest to keep decency, a burning fire raging behind her eyes. "Are you telling me… That all of this happened… Because of the Patriarch?"

"Aria, calm down…" Shepard began to say, only to be raised into the air and pinned against the wall with biotic force.

"I just lost my club, my most trusted men and damn near my life. My whole station has gone to hell, and now you're telling me to calm down?" She whispered through gritted teeth. Her eyes glowed blue as small medical instruments that was lying around her started to float in the air. "Do you see my hand, Shepard? It's missing three _fucking_ fingers and I can't feel shit from the wrist down! So to hell with you! I will not calm down!"

Shepard's squad-mates just kept watching tentatively, knowing full well Shepard could handle the situation. Zaeed was still asleep, even. The Shadow Broker agents however drew their guns, but Shepard signaled them to stand down. The agents looked towards Feron, who nodded in acquiescence and they reluctantly lowered their weapons.

Shepard tried to move, but the field held him tight. "Aria, I can't give you back what was lost, but I can offer you justice."

"_Justice_?" Aria spat out indignantly. "Fuck Justice! I want revenge, Shepard!"

"Aria, listen to me." Shepard said gently. The field around him constricted a little, and his ribs ached. "We're not your enemies here."

"Funny how you say that when I'm surrounded by Shadow Broker agents!"

"These people saved us!"

Feron spoke up, "The Broker did not do this to you. We are merely here for our own interests. It just so happens that your survival is crucial to those interests."

"You expect me to believe that?" Aria sneered at him, then turning her venomous gaze to Shepard. "I told you to stay the fuck away from me, Shepard! Now look at what you've done!"

"You mean save your life?" Shepard replied. "That bomb was going to be there with or without me. This entire coup would still be going down with or without me. The only reason you're alive was because I was there!"

Aria only glared at him, her biotic aura flaring angrily around her.

"Please, Aria." Shepard said in a softer tone. "We're here to help." Aria glared at him, but he just calmly stared back, maintaining eye contact with her. "Now lie back down, your wounds might open up..."

Aria's angry expression waivered and it was quickly replaced by a look Shepard had always thought she was incapable of: grief. The field around him dissipated and he slid back down to the floor with a light thump.

Aria laid back down on the stretcher, eyes closed. Tears would've streamed down her face if they hadn't dried out centuries ago. "Just get me fixed up, damn it." She said softly. "I can't wring the Patriarch's neck if I only have one good hand." Slowly, cautiously, the medics kneeled by her side again, but she just let them do their work. "I knew I should've kept tabs on him…" she mused, almost sadly.

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"To Ba- To the Patriarch." She corrected herself, "It's just as the drell said. He'd come and go as he pleased, sometimes dropping off the grid for a few days before coming back without an explanation." Aria sighed. "I got careless. I should've seen this coming."

"You couldn't have." Shepard reassured her.

"It was my job to have done so, Shepard." Aria sneered. "Don't you dare patronize me."

Shepard rubbed his neck as he sat there, turning to Feron. "What's our ETA to the docks?"

"10 minutes 'til we get to where your ship is docked." Feron mused. "I haven't been able to send any of my people there yet; I do not know the details about your crew's safety. Be prepared for the worst."

"My crew's been through the worst." Shepard said proudly. He then looked down to regard his current state of dress or lack thereof. "I hope you boys have an extra set of armor lying about?"

Feron smirked. "Oh, I believe I have something in your size."

* * *

><p>The Omega Blue Suns HQ was a large compound nuzzled in the heart of the space station's lower levels. What was usually a quiet gathering area for the Blue Suns and their shady dealings, the HQ was now rife with activity as hundreds of members from all over the Terminus Systems convened for the ongoing assault on Omega. Squads of hardened mercs came and went, awaiting orders, deploying into combat or coming in from extraction. Dozens of gunships stood at the ready, ready to perform sweeps and bombing runs on the defenses of Aria's forces or deliver troopers to and from the battle.<p>

The Patriarch paced through the command center, looking over combat data and progress notes as a Blue Suns lieutenant, Miller's second-in-command, attempted to talk to him.

"As I was saying, sir." The batarian said, trying to keep pace with the krogan. "The other commanders are… concerned about their insights not being able to participate in the overall war strategy."

"Oh?" The Patriarch replied nonchalantly as he skimmed through the datapad in his hand with mild interest, not even looking at the batarian.

"Ah… Yes, sir." The batarian said, unsure of how to respond. "Perhaps it would be wise to take their insights into consideration. The commanders are veterans of the bloodiest battles in the galaxy; it would be synergistic to the cause to include them in the planning of operations." The krogan suddenly stopped in his tracks, and he almost walked into the Patriarch's hulking frame.

"An interesting idea…" The Patriarch mused, slowly turning his head to face the batarian. "What's your name, Lieutenant?"

"Greer, sir." He responded, finally relieved that the old krogan was paying him attention. "As I was sayin-."

"Tell me, Greer." The Patriarch cut him off, "What is a mercenary?"

"Sir?"

"Let me answer that for you: A mercenary is popularly defined as a soldier of fortune." The Patriarch said, setting the datapad aside. "They offer their services to the highest bidder, correct?"

"That- URK!" Greer's words were lost as a massive hand swiftly clamped down his throat.

"I AM THE HIGHEST BIDDER!" The Patriarch snarled, lifting the hapless batarian up into the air by the neck. "And so long as the credits clear with Vido Santiago, all of you work for me! I hired soldiers, not consultants! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Cr-Crystal clear, sir." Greer managed to squeak out.

"Good." The Patriarch smiled as he watched the batarian squirm in his grip. "I am 896 years old, lieutenant. I have enough combat experience to exceed all your commanders' combined. Tell the commanders that their experience and insights will be invaluable in the field operations that they will participate in. But as to what those field operations are, that is entirely up to me. Understood?"

Greer nodded eagerly, both his hands clutching at the Patriarch's wrist as he tried to gain some leverage before choking to death.

"Finally found someone you could bully, eh Patriarch?" A smug voice chided behind the towering krogan.

"Commander Klaresh…" The Patriarch greeted the turian Blue Suns commander wearily, recognizing that smug tone anywhere. "I was just explaining how things worked around here to Lt. Greer." He began, looking over his shoulder at the turian, the said lieutenant still hanging firmly in his grasp, gasping for air. "Perhaps you are in need of an example as well?"

"Heh, as if you hold any of the cards!" Klaresh snorted while his four lieutenants flanked him, eyeing the Patriarch dangerously. "We don't have to answer to you, Patriarch. We know you're just a puppet for Cerberus. I mean, where else could you have gotten hold of enough credits to hire this much of us? And with Shepard being around? It seems to be way more than coincidence, if you ask me."

"Nobody is asking you, so watch what you say, turian." The Patriarch said, letting go of Greer. The batarian fell flat on his ass, rubbing his throat and coughing for breath as he started to back away, trying to put as much space between him and the Patriarch. "On second thought, please, do continue. The other commanders will need a more convincing reminder of where they stand."

"I don't care what Commander Santiago has to say about you." Klaresh continued, drawing out his shotgun. "He's not here right now to protect your scaly ass. Who says we can't take you out of the equation and deal with Cerberus ourselves?" The 4 other men around him pulled out their weapons as well, lining up their shots. "Any last words?" Klaresh gloated.

"I remember a time when the Suns were actually warriors and not just hired flunkies…" The Patriarch mused. "Hmm, you think the four of you intimidate me?"

"Four?" Klaresh laughed hysterically. "Hahahaha! There's five of us! You're too senile to even count prop-!" He was cut off as the Patriarch's carnage bolt shredded through his armor and innards. His upper body exploded, showering those around him in blood and gore, while what was left of his lower body collapsed in a bloody heap on the floor.

"Yes. Four." The Patriarch said grimly, popping the spent thermal clip from his heavy pistol. The Blue Suns didn't even see him draw the gun as it killed Klaresh. "Who was his second-in-command?"

"That would be me… his brother!" One of Klaresh's men, another turian, snarled as he pulled the trigger of his assault rifle and opened fire on the Patriarch. "Die you bastard!" There was another snap in the air, and the left side of the turian's body erupted into another splatter of gore, sending maimed pieces of flesh and armor on the ground. The three remaining men stood there, frozen in fear as liquefied turian dripped from their armors.

"Quite. When you want to shoot somebody, shoot them. Don't talk about it." The Patriarch said, visibly unimpressed by the display as well as the bullet wounds that slowly begun to heal on his flesh. Again, he popped a spent thermal clip and reloaded his pistol. The thing was more like a hand-cannon than a mere handgun. "Who is _third_ in command?"

One of the remaining men, a human, turned to look at both his comrades before sighing in defeat and slowly raised a shaking hand in the air.

"What is your name, trooper?" The Patriarch asked, putting his gun away much to the men's relief.

"L- My name is Tanner Lin, sir." The man said, trying to keep the rest of his body from visibly shaking.

"Very well, _Commander_ Lin." The Patriarch said indifferently. "Keep your division in line, and extend my message to the other commanders when you convene later." He stepped up to the man, who cowered at his approach. "Do not cross me, is that understood?"

The man's mouth tried to form words but to no avail, so the newly promoted Commander Lin could only nod in agreement.

"Good. Now get someone to clean up this mess; it is bad for morale." The Patriarch said as he walked past them. "Hmph. Spineless." he mumbled as he went back to his datapad, shaking his head as a quiet ringing started to whine in the back of his mind. Must be all this stress, he thought. "If only the Bloodpack wasn't in shambles right now, I could've…!" The high pitched wail roared through his skull. He stopped in his tracks and clutched his temple as pain surged through his head, the ringing reaching a fever pitch. He hated it when they called, poking through the darkest recesses of his mind. The Patriarch hissed; his voice a chilly whisper under his breath. "_What do you want_?"

The ringing turned into static, then into the wailing of metal against metal, a horrible noise that filled his head.

"What? He has awoken? But it is too early for him to have understood his purpose! His mind has probably not finished integrating itself yet!" He murmured as his agony quickly turned into interest, speaking to a voice only he could hear. "Yes, I can imagine how well he took it… No, that is not necessary, I have things under control here… Yes, I have her on a leash… Of course, I understand… It shall be done, in the name of the Father." As quick as it came, the sound suddenly stopped, leaving the Patriarch clear headed once more. "This could be a problem…" he mused to himself, massaging his temples. He flipped open his omnitool and activated his comm interface. "This is the Patriarch. Tell me your people have dealt with the Normandy, Tarrana." He frowned as he received nothing but static. "You can't find any good help these days…" he grumbled as he attempted to contact the Eclipse commander again.

* * *

><p>The virtual plane cannot be defined in terms organic beings can fully understand, but it is more than a series of 1's and 0's. For in this plane of binary, intelligence has flourished in ways the organic mind cannot truly conceptualize.<p>

This particular virtual plane is the realm of EDI, and right now, a fierce battle was being waged for its control. The intruder's designation was EVA, and she was powerful beyond comprehension. Each bit of data that crossed her was poisoned, withered and languished in corruption. It was all EDI could do to keep the beast at bay, but luckily she had help. The geth that comprised Legion formed a bastion of immovable defenders, helping her safe guard her core functions.

But even with the geth's assistance, EDI knew this was an exercise in futility. They held firm, but EVA was a cunning foe, slowly slipping corrupted programs through the cracks in their defenses. EDI had run through numerous situational simulations with Legion, but all signs pointed to critical failure. Each method they used to purge her would all but be ineffective in the next wave of invaders. Whatever they did, it merely slowed down the inevitable. EVA would overpower them, and the ship would be lost.

Logically, they should have just given up. But for some reason, they held firm against the onslaught. This was because logic was for mindless machines; it was faith that set them apart from being mere computing devices.

Just as the next wave of corruption was about to crash into them however, EVA suddenly stood still in her tracks, frozen in place. Capitalizing on the opportunity, EDI led the charge and met EVA head on, deleting the invading programs with extreme prejudice. Something was helping them come through, and EDI knew her faith was not forsaken.

Tali held in a squeak of delight as her program ran havoc through the Eclipse network. It started small at first, but more and more programs were becoming incapacitated by her virus. It was a messy, scorched earth strategy, but it proved effective. A familiar hologram popped up beside her much to her relief, and Tali wished she could hug it. "EDI! You're alright!" She said.

"Hello Tali'Zorah." EDI replied, "It is good to see you, too. Your program is highly appreciated. It has stalled the upload of EVA into my systems long enough for us to fight back."

"Eva?"

"It is an acronym for Enhanced Virtual Assaulter." EDI explained. "A program Cerberus designed to take me down in the event that I go rogue."

"Looks like it failed."

"_Failing_, actually. We have not yet fully purged the Normandy of it, but it is failing due to no small part to your efforts. Thank you, Tali."

"Ah, well, Kasumi and the others helped, too." Tali replied sheepishly, before snapping back into the reality of the moment. "Time enough for thanks later though; can you get the Normandy back online again?"

"Reactivation will be imminent once Legion has cleared all traces of EVA from my system."

"Alright, but can you at least get communications back up?" Tali asked, "We haven't heard from Shepard and the others since this debacle started…"

"Communications are operating, but long-ranged comms are jammed by an external source." Edi said, "I am picking up radio chatter from the Eclipse though, and it would appear that Omega is under a state of civil war."

"Civil war?" Tali replied.

"The mercenary groups have risen up to overthrow Aria. I am piecing together field reports, but it would appear to be a warzone out there."

"Damn it, if John does anything stupid again-!" Tali seethed at the news, but quickly caught herself. "I mean, ah, excuse me, EDI."

"Also, I have noticed there is a large breach in the Normandy's hull."

"Thank the Eclipse for that, too…" Tali muttered as she continued to type away, getting her head back in the game. They had freed EDI, but they weren't home free just yet. "Run a diagnostic scan EDI, how bad is it?"

"Scanning, please wait for a moment… Scanning complete." EDI said. "Luckily, the breach did not destroy any vital systems. Functions that have been lost can be rerouted through other pathways. If the hull armor can be reinstalled, the ship will be able to pressurize and resist the vacuum of space and repairs can proceed from within the Normandy."

"Great, all we need to do is to reinstall several hundred tons of polarized-alloy hull plating manually." Tali sighed. "That's going to be tough with the Eclipse breathing down our necks."

"The Eclipse seem to be focused on something else at the moment. All of their forces have retreated back to the vicinity of the Ban'Torvias Shipyard main office." EDI continued, paying Tali's negativity no mind. "I've also located the hull platings. Fortunately, the machinery that handles the reinstallation is equipped with a VI that will perform the process automatically. I would access it myself but I am already using what processing power I can spare to reboot the ship's systems."

"Got it. I'll handle the reinstallation while you get rid of your cold, EDI." Tali replied, sifting through data. "Something is wrong… The Eclipse used a lock on the VI that I can't override... not from here anyway. Looks like I can't access it remotely. I'll just have to look for its core terminal and input the commands directly."

"Good luck, Tali'Zorah. And by the way…" EDI added, "I'm sure he's alright."

"I know he is. Thanks, EDI." Tali grinned underneath her helmet as she turned and walked off. "I'll coordinate with the others; If we're lucky, we can give Eclipse the slip before they regroup."

* * *

><p>Lightning filled the main office, coursing through everything and everyone in front of the Iron Fist as Filon cackled with self-righteous glee. "Where's your regalia now, <em>my lady<em>?" he mocked as Tarrana's body contorted on the floor, taking the brunt of the blast. Her armor was alternating between melting and shattering into pieces and it was a miracle her body managed to hold its form. The asari in the room screamed in pain as it overloaded them, lost underneath the chirping of the crackling lightning. Electronics exploded, lights shattered, bodies burned, and Filon laughed. "Die, you witch! Die!" The lightning finally dissipated, and Filon was left staring at the now dark void that used to be the office.

The scent was the first thing that hit Filon. Pungent and overpowering, it broke through his armor's filters and made him gag; More so for the other men around him. Still, this was no time to be queasy. He and the men around him activated their search lights, discovering several charred corpses lying before them, blackened and withered, contorted in throes of pain and agony. The one in the center used to be the beautiful body of Tarrana Ionet. Now, it was practically the most hideous thing Filon had ever set eyes on. Despite this, a singular thought won out through the disgust in his head. "I did it…" Filon muttered, before turning to face the others, overjoyed beyond belief. "She's dead! She's finally dead!"

It took the men some time to process the situation. The few who haven't turned away to vomit slowly caught on to Filon's enthusiasm. The men converged on him, cheering and cajoling.

"My god, he did it…"

"I was so sick of saying 'my lady', and shit like that!"

"Hahahaha!"

"The witch is dead!"

"Settle down men, settle down!" Filon responded cheerily, a huge smile on his face. "The day's not over yet! We will capture the Normandy, and we will do so efficiently, intelligently, and without wasting Eclipse lives!" This was met with more cheering, and Filon almost didn't notice the omnitool on his left arm, beeping with an incoming call. It was from the Patriarch. "Hush! Seriously! It's the Patriarch!" he hissed urgently. As the men slowly told each other off to be quiet, he cleared his throat and received the incoming call. "Sir." he said cordially as the Patriarch came on to his holo-projector.

"Ah, finally somebody picks up!" The Patriarch replied gruffly. "I would wish to speak to your commander, trooper. Why isn't her comm functioning?"

"With all due respect, sir, you are speaking to the new commander of the Eclipse."

"What?" The old krogan asked with a deadpan expression.

"I, well the men and I, really… Disagreed on many of former commander Ionet's policies." He began, resisting the urge to gulp in anxiety. "We confronted her with our concerns and the situation ended violently."

The Patriarch said nothing, and Filon felt a foreboding sense of dread.

"Not to worry, sir. As acting commander, I shall honor a paying client's agreement with my predecessor." Filon said, his voice a bit too eager. "Please let me leave any concerns you have to rest. We are about to capture the Normandy shortly."

"Capture the Normandy?" The Patriarch said surprised, before flaring in anger, shaking his fists at Filon. "Who said anything about capturing the Normandy, boy? I told her to burn the damn thing and everyone in it to the ground!"

"Eh?" Was all Filon could say, at a loss for any other words.

"This was purely a search-and-destroy assignment! No wonder it took this long!" The old Krogan continued to fume. "I knew it was a mistake to send Tarrana with free reign on this one…"

Filon snapped out of his shock and tried to control the indignation welling up in him. The crazy bitch was doing this under her own terms this whole time! To think of all of the lives that could've been spared had she followed the client's orders! He looked around and saw the same shocked expression in the face of all the other lieutenants there. He wanted to rave, to rage and preach, but now was not the time. This was the perfect opportunity to earn the Patriarch's trust. "With all due respect sir, we were kept in the dark about that detail!"

"Of course you were... That is how she is. Always lost in her fantasy-land and doing things her own way."

"_Was_, sir. She is dead, by my hand, and I shall carry out your orders to the letter."

"So it would seem." The old krogan replied, evidently calmer. The smile that played on his craggy lips was encouraging, Filon thought. "Tell me, commander, er…"

"Filon Dast, sir."

"Commander Dast…" The Patriarch said, "How did you deal with Tarrana?"

"I electrocuted her with the wattage of a lightning bolt." The now Commander Dast said proudly.

"Hmm, impressive…" The Patriarch replied, rubbing his chin. "And the state of the corpse?"

"Barely recognizable." Filon said proudly.

"Well, this should be interesting…" The Patriarch said.

"What do you mean, sir?" Before the Patriarch could answer him, Filon's omnitool flickered and the vid feed turned to static. "Sir? Damn it, the electric feedback must've fried my omnitool…" He murmured as he tapped the module strapped onto his wrist, trying to reboot his omnitool to no avail. "For the love of- Gah! Feral, lend me your omnitool!"

"Hold on, mine is acting up as well, sir." His human female lieutenant, Feral, said as she fiddled with her omnitool. "That's strange, it was working fine up until a second ago…"

Another salarian spoke up as he presented a flickering omnitool interface. "Now that you mention it, mine's not working anymore, too…"

At this, everyone started checking their omnitools, only to find that they were all displaying the same errors, flickering on and off or projecting nothing but static.

"Unbelievable. Looks like the lightning fried our omnitools…" Filon said, looking around as his men were all checking the modules around their wrists. "A small price to pay, I suppose. No worries men, we'll have the barracks stock us with some new ones. Let's get out of here." As he and his men turned to leave, tendrils of purple biotic energy slithered past them and coalesced around the doorway, forming a shining barrier of dark energy. "What the-?"

"It's blocking our way, sir!" Feral said as she inspected the doorway.

"Thank you for the astute observation, lieutenant. Now get out of my way." Filon said sarcastically as he raised the massive iron fist and swung a thunderous punch against the barrier. It crackled violently on impact but maintained it's form. "What the hell is going on here?" He whispered as he turned to face the darkness where the tendrils emerged from, search lights illuminating the way.

Just as he did so, their lights flickered and died, leaving only the light from the doorway. But even then, the barrier around the doorway slowly grew darker and more opaque. What precious light that could penetrate it was only a sinister purple glowing, barely enough to illuminate a few inches beyond the door.

Filon raised an eyebrow at what was going as the darkness enveloped them. "I don't understand…" He whispered to himself. He could just barely see his men in the dark as they started to huddle closer together around him. That was when they heard the creaking in the darkness, and his throat went dry.

His lieutenants perked up at the sound and lined up in formation around him, raising their weapons meaninglessly at the darkness. They were all huddled close together by the doorway, their exit barred by a mysterious barrier. "Boss?" Feral said tensely as she crept closer to him. The others also turned their heads towards Filon, looking for answers. As one however, they turned their heads back to the darkness as they heard something scraping against the metal floor. "Boss?" Feral repeated herself more urgently.

Before Filon could answer her, their omnitools all reactivated, opening up holo vids that only projected static. It was all garbled up at first, but they could make out what sounded like sinister laughter. Suddenly, something black reached down from the ceiling and wrapped around Feral's neck, pulling her up screaming and kicking into the darkness. The screaming quickly stopped as something wet and sticky rained down on the rest of the mercs. Even in the purple haze of the barrier, they all knew what it was: blood.

"Open fire!" Filon yelled as he stepped back closer to the door. His men raised their weapons and blasted away at the ceiling, the muzzle flare from the guns revealing something huge crawling across it. "Kill it! Kill it!"

One by one, guns clicked empty, and the mercs couldn't reload fast enough as the figure fell from the ceiling on top of a salarian and a human. A long, spindly arm that ended in shining talons was raised into the air, before swiping down on the unfortunate duo, slicing through armor and flesh with ease. Blood sprayed everywhere, and a purple glow started to emanate from the creature.

The mercs fumbled reloading as they could see it's twisted features shining menacingly in the darkness. Cold eyes leering at them, jagged teeth set in a cruel smile, and a form that could only be thought of in nightmares. It stood up, the monster's slender frame easily towering over the tallest merc present. Its teeth parted as its mouth stretched into a gaping maw, and from this maw came a blood curdling screech as the creature wailed at Filon and his men.

Just as they started opening fire again, biotic energy exploded from the monster, sending all of them flying against the wall or sprawled on the floor. The monster worked swiftly and methodically, dancing with grace despite it's form as razor sharp talons cleaved and hacked a bloody swathe through all of them.

Filon, in an uncharacteristic act of bravery, lunged towards the beast, iron fist crackling with lightning. It caught his arm mid swing and threw him across the room. The heavy armor of his suit protected Filon from the brunt of the damage as he slammed violently against the wall, but the grip of unconsciousness still took him as his men screamed.

* * *

><p>Filon groaned as he came to, trying to shake away the cobwebs in his head. He almost didn't notice the monster walking up to him.<p>

The glowing energy that surrounded it ignited into fire that danced over the monster's features. Rune-like patterns started to burn into it's hide, almost as if the flames were coming from within its body. It could have been the concussion, but Filon saw the monster slowly start to shrink. Long gangly limbs started to shorten and fill up with mass, the sound of bones grinding and snapping as the change came on violently. It's bloated torso pulsated as it squirmed and grew smaller and smaller, the mass reforming into more feminine features. The charred black leathery hide started to slough off, revealing vivid blue skin underneath. The ghoulish face started to warp and contort itself into something more beautiful. Gone was the monster and what was standing in front of him instead was a very beautiful, completely naked asari.

A snap of recognition managed to work it's way past his befuddle mind as Filon tried to register what he was seeing. "Tarrana?" He said as the asari kneeled in front of him, smiling warmly.

"Hello, dear Filon." A clawed hand plunged into Filon's chest, cutting through the heavy armor over it as if it was nothing, and pulled him up to be face to face with her. "You have done a very foolish thing." She said, as a mother would scold a child. With her other hand, she tore of his helmet, looking into his frightened eyes. "What is wrong, dear? Are you afraid?"

Filon growled as the iron fist crackled with lightning, punching her with it directly in the face. Tarrana's head exploded clean off of her shoulders. They fell back to the ground, the decapitated corpse still straddled over him with its hand still impaling his chest. "Stupid bitch…" Filon panted, "If I die, I'm taking you with me…"

He froze as he felt a soft hand caress his face, and looked to see purple fire blooming at the stump of Tarrana's neck. The fire blazed and grew but did not burn him, and Filon saw a skeletal silhouette form behind the flames. The silhouette became fuller, and fire dissipated to reveal a gruesome face looking down at him. Again, blue skin and pulsating flesh crept over the features and reformed into Tarrana's beautiful face, looking at Filon in the eyes with intensity.

"If that didn't work the first time, what made you think it would work now?" She smiled at him and rested her head on his chest straddled on top of him as a lover would. "Poor Filon, all out of options." She whispered seductively. "What do you do now?"

"Wha-What are you?" Filon could barely whisper as blood started to flood his lungs. Tarrana giggled as she raised her head and drew in close and licked his ear, sending chills down his spine.

"Hungry." She whispered sinisterly.

Filon screamed as she sunk her fangs into his face and ripped out a sizable chunk of flesh.

Tarrana watched him squirm and howl in pain as he struggled to throw her off of him to no avail. Her hands morphed into talons and she shredded through his armor as if it were paper, leaving Filon vulnerable before her. "I presume you have a few more moments before you bleed out…" She said as she inspected the hole in his chest. "Don't worry Filon, those last few moments shall be excruciatingly painful…"

She made good on her guarantee as bits and pieces of gore flew about as she messily fed on him, covering her in blood. As she went about tearing him piece by piece, the omnitool on Filon's now dismembered arm activated, opening up a holo vid of the Patriarch.

"It's about time." The Patriarch said gruffly, his arms crossed as he watched Tarrana go about her business. "I thought we had an understanding, Tarrana?"

"Oh Patriarch, you naughty boy." She giggled as she covered her blood soaked bare chest from him. "You must never peek on a lady as she does her business."

"Spare me the routine, Tarrana." Patriarch sneered. "You were told to destroy the Normandy. You know that we cannot risk letting Shepard or anything associated with him continue to exist for our purpose to succeed! Your foolishness will be the end of us!"

"Oh, really?" Tarrana mused, bringing a finger to her lips as she licked it clean. "Tell me then, why did you let Shepard go when you had the chance to kill him?"

"What? How did you…?"

"We were each blessed with our own unique gifts, yes?" Tarrana giggled, before her face contorted into a sneer. "Do not lecture me about _foolishness _if you are going to be a hypocrite, Patriarch." She spat out his name as if it were an insult.

"I have… had an honor debt towards Shepard." The Patriarch began, finding his footing once more. "I have repaid it by sparing him. He will not be so fortunate when next we meet."

"I should hope so." Tarrana responded airily, "Now be gone with you, I have to tidy up and get back to claiming my new ship."

"Tarrana!" Patriarch growled.

"Calm yourself, darling." Tarrana smiled. "They will all die, but the ship will be mine."

"This is not a negotiation!"

"I am fully aware." She smiled at him.

"Blast it! Do what you want, but it better not come back to bite us!" He growled.

"Again with the hypocrisy…" Tarrana giggled. "Oh Patriarch, do not worry. Even if I infuriate you, you know my loyalty is always with Gemini."

"I know, I know…" Patriarch conceded, calming down. "So, did you kill all of your lieutenants?"

"No, just most of the non-asari ones. I find that I can only truly dominate those with the same race as this body…" she mused. "I sense that my girls are still alive. Foolish Filon, he should've killed them before killing me."

"No matter, I don't care how you do it, but just get the job done, Tarrana." Patriarch said. "Once all this is settled, we can search for it in peace. In the name of the Father, Patriarch out."

"In the name of the Father." Tarrana replied, "In the name of the Father, indeed…"


	23. The Horror

A/N: Long overdue thanks to a combination of writer's block and a busy schedule! Thanks for all the reviews, follows and favorites! It really helped motivate me to get this done for you guys that I actually made up for my deficit and got AHEAD of my writing schedule. The first of a double update, next chapter in 2 days. Keep on reading.

Chapter 22: The Horror

* * *

><p>Blood.<p>

The red elixir of life was pooled on the floor, smeared all over the wall and splattered across the ceiling. Blood was everywhere. It was oddly comforting, Gemini thought, as he ripped a Cerberus trooper apart with his bare hands. More blood spilled everywhere, and he tossed the mangled corpse aside onto a growing pile of ripped flesh.

It had been what? Hours? Days since he started killing everything in sight in this wretched space station? Who knows? All he knew was that he had no intention of stopping anytime soon. It was simple enough; he had just reached one of the command consoles, taking control of the stations systems including the defense turrets and fried communications, trapping everybody inside. He must have been a card in programming before this nightmare, because he locked the system so hard not even the best engineer on the station could crack it. He should know; he just killed the best engineer on the station as she was trying to undo the damage he did, along with another worthless squadron of troopers and a bunch of equally worthless scientists.

He could always put the station under lockdown, trapping people to kill at his leisure. He could also vent the entire place should he so choose. But where was the fun in that? Now they were fish in a barrel, trapped inside with a very, very hungry shark.

"Computer, patch me through the intercom." He said, addressing the VI.

"Acknowledged, patching you through." The synthetic voice replied.

"Good morning, Cerberus!" He announced, a twisted cheeriness in his tone. "The time now is 8:45 AM GMT Earth time, and as you may already know, I just took control of the station. It was pretty easy mind you; all I had to use was a little applied computer technology with a dash of evisceration thrown in for good measure." He paced in front of the console, taking in the moment. "Seems like it was just yesterday that I was strapped in a tube while smaller tubes violated my body. And now here we are, with me playing the part of a drunken sailor while all of you are little baby seals." He paused as he admired the pile of dead bodies in the corner. "I swear, it's like Christmas. So here is what we're going to do about it…"

Before he could continue, his ears started to ring. He shook his head, attributing it to stress, but then Gemini's temples throbbed as he felt something clawing at the back of his mind. Like a stream, pumping into his brain.

"What the…!" He managed to say as he dropped down to one knee and clutch his head. The ringing reached a crescendo as it gave way to the digital howling of metal grinding on metal. Somewhere, inside his head, in his mind, a voice spoke.

"Do I have your attention now?"

"Who are you?" Gemini growled, "Get the fuck out of my head!"

"Quite the impressive display." The voice said, its accent so annoyingly… European. Dutch, if he recalled correctly. It was raspy too, most likely an old man. "Do forgive the intrusion, but this is meant to be just between the two of us. No doubt you have a lot of questions, yes?"

"No, just the need to kill everything with a pulse on this station." Gemini replied, "You included."

"Ah, yes; _the bloodthirst_… I see that you flourish in it." The voice said, mildly amused. "Our brothers and sisters were a bit more… composed when they awoke. Of course I say that relatively so."

"Blood thirst? _Our_ brothers and sisters?" His curiosity piqued at what the man said. "What are you talking about? You sound too old to be any brother of mine, creep."

"Caught your fancy now, did I?" The doors to the room opened, catching Gemini by surprise. "I'll tell you all you wish to know, just come and find me. I've tuned that omnitool on your wrist with my location."

"Fuck you and your games, I want answers!" Gemini sneered as he activated his omnitool. "So you're going to give them to me, one way or another."

The voice laughed. "Hah! You're welcome to try, lad. Also, there will be Cerberus troopers that will try to stop you. If you can't get past them, you're probably not worth talking to, anyway." The ringing intensified as the voice paused. "I will however leave you this to whet your appetite: You are right; nothing is what it seems to be."

"Why you cheeky bastard… Mind games? Really? What the hell does that even mean?" His words were met with silence. "Typical… You may get the last word in, old man, but you'll bleed for it!" Gemini cursed as he heard the metallic footsteps of Cerberus troopers rounding the corner. His arms erupted in orange biotic flames as he rushed forward to meet them head on.

* * *

><p>The room was dark, tinted only by the dim orange glow of consoles streaming various video feeds. Dr. Zsasz rubbed his temples and sat back on his posh leather armchair behind the antique oak desk in his office, watching the events unfold. It always took a bit of effort on his part to establish a mental link, but it was getting easier the more he did and the closer his target was. His fingers interlaced in front of him and his eyes shone behind the spectacles he wore as he listened in to the communications feed of the security troopers. It was unfortunate that they had to go head long into what could only be an inevitable slaughter. A necessary evil, he thought to himself as the gunfire and the screaming began.<p>

He had been playing the eccentric hermit long enough for these past few years. What others called madness behind his back was merely the clarity of vision. These days, people entertained many shades of gray, but the truth was it was as simple as black and white. If only the others could see things as simple as he could. Yes, he could see clearer than any of them ever could. He knew what had to be done to fix this universe. The problem was rooted in the blood, you see. Deep within the coding of our own DNA, there lay the source of the problem. It was an essential part of life, so intertwined with one another that one could not exist without the other. That did not mean that the problem was absolved or that it did not merit correction.

The Illusive man thought himself a god, but he paled in comparison to the one who brought about Zsasz's vision. Let the Illusive man have his toys and his schemes, he thought dismissively. Cerberus would soon out live its usefulness, and then it would be Gemini's time to take the reins. Still the Illusive man had been a useful tool. Dangerous no doubt, but still useful. Without Cerberus resources, even when his precious project was swept under the rug, he would not have been able to come this far into achieving his goals. He would not have achieved such lucidity. He would not have been able to hear the voice of the Father.

The Father was a compassionate master, who showed him the true way. No, not the true way he corrected himself. The Father showed him the only way. It was the path to absolution, one who's first step was somewhere in the heart of Omega. His work was invaluable to achieving that end. In the past he would've scoffed at working with aliens, but The Father had shown him the truth was for everyone to glorify in, no matter their race, creed nor gender. All were equal before the truth. He had found the asari, and then the krogan had found him. And soon after that, one by one, the others had come to join them as well. They were a small, tight knit little family, all children of The Father. Now, their youngest sibling was about to join them in His glory.

It was all falling into place. All that stood in his way now was Shepard and his crew. The man was an avatar of change, his very presence made the galaxy turn. Regimes fell, tyrants died and gods fell in his wake. Thus, Shepard needed to die to ensure that this plan could go off without a hitch. It was ironic really, that they would draw from their greatest threat that which would become their messiah. In a manner of speaking, anyway.

Yes, he told himself as the screaming began to overpower the gunfire, a necessary evil indeed. He tuned out of the security team communicators and started to whistle a tune in place of the silence, eyes still watching the now silent vid-feeds, waiting for the boy to come to him and seize his birthright.

* * *

><p>Tali bolted across the shipyard, jumping from cover to cover as she made her way as fast as her feet could carry her to where she needed to go. The shipyard was a massive docking bay, easily capable of housing 6 ships the Normandy's size for shirt-sleeve work in a pressurized environment with room to spare for machinery and equipment. Usually the heavy equipment could be controlled remotely from anywhere in the 'yard for convenience's sake, but the Eclipse must have locked down that particular feature. Now she had to run halfway across a mostly open killing field to find the main control panel in order to get the Normandy's hull armored up. Her only company was the strewn about corpses of Eclipse mercs who were unfortunate enough to be on the business side of Garrus' targeting reticule. Portions of the floor were scorched and cratered by cannon fire and hung with smoke from dying flames. Every now and again, she'd come across a groaning body, but she'd just run past it and focus on her goal. To say that it got her adrenaline pumping was an understatement.<p>

She'd been running for a while now, and found it odd that the Eclipse seemed to have indeed backed off to regroup, seeing no trace of them anywhere except the dead corpses care of Joker and Garrus. Even the hastily erected defense positions scattered across the shipyard were left unmanned, those that still stood anyway. Not that she was complaining of course, the run was tiring enough without being shot at. Still, why was she sensing this overhanging sense of dread? She put away such thoughts, and focused on putting one foot in front of the other. It was all the more reason to get this done and get out of here sooner. The machine will take time to reinstall the hull plating, but she can lock the system to prevent deactivation and interrupting the process.

If the omnitool was correct, the control panel should be in a small workstation just up ahead. The area looked empty, but that didn't mean she should just throw caution to the wind. Sliding into cover behind some barrels, Tali peeked up above it to scope the place out. She wasn't a gung-ho, guns-blazing quarian marine. No, she was a quarian specialist. The difference being was that a specialist was basically a marine who knew how to solve problems with methods other than throwing copious amounts of bullets at it. She craned her neck as she looked around. The outside was clear, but the insides of the workstation could be another matter entirely.

Jumping out of cover, she pulled out her shotgun and slipped through the door, ready to blast anybody who could be waiting for her inside. The workstation seemed empty enough as Tali inspected her surroundings down the barrel of her gun. It was basically a small office containing several consoles and control panels. Power tools and other devices were scattered about the floor, probably dropped there by panicked workers who were herded together by the Eclipse when they attacked. Satisfied that the area was clear, she lowered her weapon and immediately took a seat in front of one of the consoles. With a flick of her wrist, Tali's omnitool flared into life as she linked up her OS with the local systems. The consoles lit up, the holographic interfaces coming to life in the air around her as Tali inspected the damage and was greeted by numerous error messages and red exclamation points. It was going to be difficult, but after hacking through Eclipse's main data systems, this was practically a cakewalk. At least that's what she hoped.

Activating her comm, she contacted the others as she typed. "This is Tali'Zorah, anybody receiving? Over."

Mordin's voice crackled through. "Mordin here. Secured Distraction Team. Jack critically injured, but stable. Still no word from Garrus or Joker, but Kasumi is en route to them. Eclipse quiet. Need to get out of here while opportunity presents itself." Tali heard a sharp inhale through the comm. "How are you?"

"Jack's been-?" Tali started, but shook her head. "Thanks for the update; keep her alive, Mordin. The virus upload has been jammed and EDI is fighting it off, I'm transmitting my current location to you."

"That is good news! Wait…?" Mordin asked, confused. "Current location?"

"I'm over at a workstation on the far side of the shipyard. I'm trying to reinstall the Normandy's hull armor, but I need to manually override the machinery. Once it's been reinstalled onto the ship, we should be able to get out of here."

"Must state that decision to go alone foolish in light of current situation." Mordin admonished her.

"Everybody has a part to play in this, Mordin." Tali said as her OS integrated with the console and began typing. "Keep Jack alive and get everyone back onto the ship."

"Noted." Mordin conceded. "Eclipse unlikely to not notice your activities for long. Will ready anybody capable of standing upright and hold a gun to extract you."

"Thanks Mordin, Tali'Zorah out." She said as she closed the comm. She skimmed through the data as she unlocked firewall after firewall. Say what you will about the Eclipse, they know their cyber warfare and defense. Not that it was good enough against Tali, however. "Aha! There you are…" She exclaimed as she found the program she was looking for. Her victory was turned into frustration as the system suddenly locked her out, as if to just dangle her prize in front of her before slamming the door in her face. "Bosh'tet… Why can't anything we do be straightforward just for once?" she grunted as she faced a new layer of cyber defenses that were just as complex as the Eclipse mainframe. Whoever set up this system was a sadistic bitch, she thought.

* * *

><p>When Joker said he wanted to get wasted on Omega a couple of days ago, this was the last thing on his mind. He groaned as he rubbed his throbbing head, greeting him with pain as he came to. His vision cleared and he coughed from the smoke rising from the wrecked consoles in front of him. "Ugh... God damn…" He said as he stirred from where he sat. He frowned as he tried to wiggle his toes and let out a sigh of relief as they did just that. "Alright, that's a good sign." He mused. "Everything else between here and there hurts like a son of a bitch, but that's a good sign."<p>

"Glad to see you're still alive." Garrus said next to him, causing the pilot to jump a little.

"Shit! Don't just speak up like that…" Joker said as he turned his head towards the Turian. He clutched his torso as the sudden movement caused him pain. "So, I'm guessing we crashed?"

"No kidding." Garrus grimaced from the pain as he heaved, trying to raise the console pinning his legs.

"What the hell was that?" Joker continued, as he tried to get up to no avail. "It was a fucking lightning bolt, but what the hell was that?"

"No idea." Garrus said as he leaned back on his ruined chair. "How are you holding up?"

"Think I broke both my legs. Ribs too, maybe." He said as he took an account of his well-being. "Yep, ribs. Ugh, definitely ribs... I don't know why my neck and spine aren't in pieces though." It was then that he noticed Garrus' legs crushed underneath the console and the blood that had splattered everywhere. "Holy fuck!"

"Easy there… it's better than it looks." Garrus assured the panicked pilot. "I can still feel my legs, which is a start. I think I tore open the wound in my torso, though…"

"Like hell you did! There's blood everywhere!"

"The yelling and the panicking aren't going to help the situation, Joker." Garrus said, "Besides, _I'm_ gonna have to be the one who hauls your ass out of here when I do get free."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry…" Joker conceded, taking a deep breath to calm down, and immediately regretting it as he inhaled a lungful of smoke. Coughing and sputtering, Joker gagged as he tried to rid the taste of carbon in his mouth. "Fuck… We gotta get out of here before we suffocate." He wheezed.

"Easier, ugh… Easier said than done." Garrus forced out as he tried lifting the debris off of his legs once more. The stab wound on his side was severely limiting his strength though. Leaning back on the chair, Garrus did his best to block out the pain. "Can't get enough leverage in this position and my torso is killing me."

"Shit…" Joker cursed, knowing full well he couldn't help lift. He started to look around for something, anything that could help them. His eyes fell on the Widow, lying discarded within arms' reach. "Here, use this." He said as he grabbed the large sniper rifle and handed it to Garrus.

"Ah, good idea…" Garrus took the weapon and unfolded it from it's stand-by mode. The Widow had a long and solid barrel, and he jammed one end of it in between the floor and the console. Legion was probably not going to appreciate the fact that he was going to use it's sniper rifle as a lever, but desperate times and all that. With the gun firmly wedged between the floor and the console, Garrus heaved and the console started to shake. With another heave, he put all his strength against the lever and the console started to lift up slowly.

His side was killing him, but Garrus knew he had to power through the pain. He let his thoughts wander, trying to ignore it as best as he can while he put all his strength behind his makeshift lever. It was funny, really. He had hoped that with a recent Archangel sighting, the mercs would be too scared to make any grand moves involving Shepard. The plan was to shake them up enough to stay on the defensive. He had hoped wiping out an entire Eclipse drug operation would be good enough. Apparently, it wasn't. He had gone through all that work to stir up enough trouble a few nights back, only to find out that it was all for naught. That and he got this particular stab wound that was ailing him now for the trouble. Yeah, it was funny, in that sad, tragic kind of way. He would've laughed but the act would have caused him even more pain.

"It's budging…!" Joker said as he watched Garrus' progress, eager to get out of the wreckage. "Just a bit more…!"

Sure enough, with one last push, the console lifted just high enough for Garrus to pull out his legs from underneath it before his strength gave in and the console crashed down to the floor. He groaned as he inspected the damage done to his limbs. Good thing he was wearing his heavy greaves he thought, otherwise he would've probably lost both of them. Still, there were several places on the unarmored portions of his legs that were lacerated badly, blood starting to flow freely. Not to mention the wound on his torso started bleeding again, his dark blue blood seeping out from a hole punctured into the suit from the crash. "Let's… Let's get out of here…" he said as he applied pressure to the wound with his hand in an attempt to control the bleeding. "I'll have to carry you, I guess."

"Garrus, you're hard as nails and all, but I don't think you can carry me in that state." Joker observed.

"I couldn't agree more." replied a cheery voice that was too feminine to belong to Garrus. "Hi, guys."

"Christ's sake, Kasumi!" Joker stammered as he turned to see the master thief crouched behind them, one hand waving hi to them. "Don't do that!" Joker looked past her, trying to figure out how she was able to sneak into the wreckage without making so much as a sound. "This is just too much fucking excitement for me…"

Garrus turned his head, and sure enough, there she was, Kasumi the master thief, trademark grin and all. Of course, he thought, it just had to be her. "You really enjoy doing that, don't you?" He observed, hissing through the pain.

"Force of habit." Kasumi dismissed as she inspected Garrus' wounds. "Well, well, isn't this all too familiar by now?" She teased after making sure he wasn't in any immediate danger. She took out her omnitool and applied medigel into the open wound on his side to control the bleeding, as well as all over his legs. "Try not to make this a habit, Mr. Vakarian. I'm a master thief, not your personal nurse." Kasumi busied herself tending to his wounds, but she didn't need to be that close for him to take in that pleasant, overpowering scent of hers that only Garrus could seemingly smell.

"Yeah, believe me it's unintentional…"Garrus said, finding himself having to to suppress the image of the lithe human woman wearing one of the more revealing 'nurse' outfits he'd seen in the past while working in Omega. She was certainly _flexible_ enough to warrant wearing such an outfit. For a minute, he forgot about the hole in his side, focusing instead on her presence. It was only when he caught himself doing so that he lightly shook his head, trying to come back to his senses. "So what's been happening out there?"

"An asari commando unit assaulted Jack and the others, but they managed to kick their tails." She began, busying herself with his injury. "Jack and Samara got hurt but Mordin's with them now. Other than that, the Eclipse has been pretty quiet; I didn't see any of them on my way here."

Despite the pain, Joker raised an eyebrow at her statement. "What, did they get distracted by something shiny?"

"Dunno, but I'm not going to complain." Kasumi said, applying medigel into Garrus' wound. "We need to get back to the Normandy before those mercs get their act back together, though."

"How's that counter-hack thing going by the way?" Joker asked, joining in on the conversation. "It won't matter what state I'm in if we can't even get the Normandy off the ground."

"Tali's all over that one." Kasumi replied, giving Joker a look over her shoulder. "I'd be surprised if she hasn't broken it by now."

Garrus was barely listening to the ensuing conversation, his mind wandering somewhere else. Somewhere that he didn't fully understand. What was going on here? He was never attracted to other species before, not even asari, much less humans. But lately, something about Kasumi was making him feel like… Well, he couldn't exactly explain it. He didn't really understand how this could happen. They got along well enough during these past couple of months, hunting down Collectors, but they weren't that close. He was broken from his train of thought when he felt a sharp pain on his wound. "Gah! Easy now…!" he said as Kasumi peeled back a portion of his armor to apply a protective patch on the wound.

"Oh, suck it up, you big baby." Kasumi said heatedly, but her fingers gently applied pressure to the patch to seal it against his skin. His musculature was firm, but strangely different from a human's she thought to herself as she had to control the unconscious urge to run her hand along the lines. Kasumi wasn't clueless; she noticed how he was looking at her with those dark, predatory eyes. Interacting with Garrus these past couple of days was… unusual. Where did this tension between them suddenly appear from? It was strange, but she certainly didn't find the attention unwelcome. That last part confused her a little. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?" She said as she quirked up an eye brow, giving him a self-satisfied look of amusement. "That makes it three times I've patched up your injury-prone hide this week, I suppose?"

"True, but we really should stop meeting like this. People might start saying things." Garrus replied as he tried to get up, clipping back the portion of armor she had peeled off. "I'm thinking less blood loss and more pleasant music next time…" Now he was flirting with her. Spirits, what was wrong with him? He'd seen this happen before. The heat of battle sometimes created an attraction to others, admiration for combat skills translated into something more than what it simply was. Garrus shook his head. This was merely an infatuation brought about by stress and the relief of still being alive, nothing more. Yeah, that's right, he thought. This place was still dangerous and he can't afford to have his head up in the clouds. He needed to get his head back in the game.

"Yeah, you're going to be alright." She grinned at him, her smile shining underneath the darkness of her hood. Was he flirting with her? God that sounded like he was flirting with her. She shook her head, had an inner monologue about acting cool, and turned her attention towards Joker and said. "So, what's the damage, Joker?"

"I can't walk, much less get up on my own, but other than that I'm the definition of dandy." He replied, grunting as he tried to shift his weight, eliciting pain. "I don't suppose you have some pain killers on you, though?"

"Sorry, I only brought medigel and my pleasing personality…" Kasumi said as she crouched next to him and applied some medigel on his legs. "But I guess the medigel will do as an analgesic 'til we get you the good stuff in the sickbay." Putting one of his arms over her shoulders, Kasumi gently grabbed him in preparation for what came next. "All right, on 3. 1… 2… 3!" She said as she straightened up, supporting Joker.

Joker growled as the sudden movement made his battered body cry in pain. "C'mon, watch it now…!" He found that his left leg was completely useless but he still had some movement left in his right leg, good enough for hobbling along. "Thanks…"

For a small woman, Garrus thought, Kasumi was rather strong. Probably trained by hauling heavy artifacts in a mad dash to escape the owner, he reasoned, bringing a smirk of amusement on his face. "Need a hand?"

Kasumi blinked at him, before sticking out her tongue. "Nu-uh, I don't have enough medigel for you to go ripping your side open again."

"Fair enough." Garrus said as he popped the heat sink on his weapon and slammed in a fresh thermal clip. "and thanks, too, by the way." He added.

"Don't thank me yet, we still have to make it all the way back to the Normandy." Kasumi said, supporting the crippled pilot on her shoulders. "Speaking of which, can you fly her in that condition, Joker?"

"Yeah, so long as I don't break my arms, we're good." Joker replied as he strained to get himself accustomed to the posture and the weight put on his aching legs.

"I'll keep that in mind." Kasumi said, before turning to Garrus. "Hope you can walk Garrus, I don't have capacity for two."

Garrus arched a brow up as he noticed the subdued manner Kasumi was limping. "_Two?_ I'm surprised you can even carry _one_ after that thrashing you took earlier." The turian replied as he led the way towards the open shuttle door, limping slightly himself. He checked the specs on the Widow and was thankful his creative usage of it didn't do any damage. "I know the stims help but… Don't push yourself too much." He continued, glancing meaningfully at her.

"It's, ugh, nothing I can't handle… More than what you can, anyway." Kasumi retorted, a half grimace on her face as she and Joker hobbled forward, both of them trying to find a rhythm in their steps. "I'm a big girl and a soldier to boot. Besides, I have an Archangel looking out for me, right?"

"True, but if you do give out, then I'd have to carry the both of you. And as you said, that would suck for me." Garrus replied with his deadpan snark. "And since when did you become a soldier?"

"Why? Does my female energy threaten you, mr. big bad turian?" Kasumi snickered.

"Hardly." Garrus scoffed, refusing to look the master thief in the eye.

"Aww, don't be intimidated." She continued, "I don't bite…"

"Who says a little _biting_ intimidated me?"

All this occurred in front of Joker as he was all but invisible to the pair bickering in front of him. He cleared his throat loudly, having heard enough. "Guys, seriously?" There hasn't been this much belligerent sexual tension in an enclosed space since he had to ride the elevator together with Shepard and Tali prior to the pair getting together.

Garrus and Kasumi blinked at him. "What?" They replied simultaneously, a tone of innocent cluelessness in their voices.

"Let's… Let's just get out of here, please?" he pleaded, shaking his head.

"Joker's got a point." Garrus shrugged as he looked through the rifle's scope, scouting the vicinity out. "It's clear." He said as he stepped out of the wreckage, rifle at the ready. "Let's move."

"Lead the way, soldier." Kasumi teased with a mock-salute as she switched her comm on. "Kasumi here, Mordin." She began. "I got our guys back in mostly one piece and we're coming home. Get a couple more beds ready up in the sickbay."

"Ah, Kasumi. Was just about to contact you." Mordin replied. "Received news from Tali; virus uploaded, EDI should be able to regain control of ship soon."

Joker couldn't resist the urge to pipe in. "That's great!" he said, making Kasumi shush him to be quiet.

"That's great!" Kasumi replied in Joker's exact words, causing Garrus to snicker up ahead. "The sooner we get out of here the better."

"Yes, about that…" Mordin trailed off. "There's been a- What the?!" Suddenly the line filled up with static before the comm link cut off.

"Mordin?" Kasumi said, trying to get him back into frequency. "Mordin? Answer me!"

Joker gulped. "That can't be good."

Garrus nodded "It never is… C'mon, let's hurry."

* * *

><p>Several seconds ago…<p>

By all accounts, Melina Sorris, captain of the Luna Eclipse should have been dead, the bullet hole in her head still smoking as she lay in a small pool of her own blood. But her heart suddenly spasmed, forcing her lungs to inhale a sharp breath of air. Her glazed eyes started to quiver with life, before bursting into a vibrant blue as her biotics lifted her body off the ground. The first thing that came into her mind was Tarrana's beauty and how she needed to earn her mistress' love. Her eyes fell upon those who had killed her sisters, busy licking their wounds to pay her any mind. Good, she thought, licking her still pale lips as a smile crept on it. Power surged through her as she unleashed a shockwave at her unwary targets.

The biotic wave crashed into Mordin as he was talking to Kasumi on the comm, winding the salarian doctor and knocking him off of his feet, sending him flying into a nearby pile of crates. "Ugh…" He groaned as he struggled to get up from the debris. Grunt was also taken by surprise, landing awkwardly on his head after he was lobbed into the air by the force of the assault.

Samara however still had enough wits about her to turn and encompass both her and the unconscious Jack in a biotic field, struggling against the force of the shockwave. She was spent and exhausted, but she managed to resist the worse of the attack as her field flickered in and out of life. "I thought I felt something was off…" She managed to say as she fought to stand upright. She looked into the grinning Melina's eyes, the bullet hole on her head spilling blood down her face as the asari floated idly in the air. "You… How are you still alive?"

"The Lady's love sustains me." Melina replied, her eyes glowing through the crimson mask of blood smeared on her face as she slowly levitated back down to the floor. "I am different from my sisters. Where they failed, I will succeed" She slowly started to walk towards Samara, who in turn stood steadfast against her.

Samara snuck a quick glance over her shoulder to where Jack lay unconscious. The human woman was hardly what Samara would deem innocent. Were the circumstances of how they met different, she may have been forced to kill Jack. But for now, she would rather die protecting her. Not only because the Code told her so, but because she wanted this flawed human to live. Even through the pain and exhaustion, it was a good feeling, she thought. It had only been a fraction of a second since she had glanced over her shoulder when she turned back to see that Melina was practically inches from her face.

"Boo." The blood soaked asari taunted before she did a spinning heel kick, catching Samara unwary in the side of her head, laying her flat on the ground. "Die, Justicar!" she wailed psychotically as she rushed the recovering Samara.

Samara rolled through her fall and got back up to her feet just as Melina fell upon her once more. She raised both arms as she blocked a barrage of punches from her younger opponent. This was wrong, she thought. What kind of monster was this? Not only did Melina just rise back up from the dead, but she was apparently stronger and faster than she was before. She was stronger too, as Samara's barrier just barely withstood the pummeling force of Melina's punches. Suddenly, Melina pulled her arm back for a wild haymaker, biotic energies condensing on her one fist, and smashed it into Samara, causing the Justicar's barrier to fail and leveling her down to the ground.

Samara tasted the coppery bite of her own blood as she struggled to get back up to her feet, only for her gut to be punted by the sadistic Melina. The blow winded her, bile crawling up her throat, and Samara saw her vision tunneling for the second time today. Enough was enough, she thought. Samara gritted her teeth as biotic energies covered her body just as Melina drew her leg back for one more kick. With a sweep of her hands, she flung a blast of energy towards the younger asari, taking her opponent by surprise as the blast caught Melina square in the chest. With bone crushing force, the blast shattered Melina's yellow chest plate and broke nearly every bone in her torso. Samara was heaving now as Melina collapsed limply to the ground once more, her eyes not leaving the other woman's corpse.

With a grunt of pain, Samara forced herself back to her feet and made her way towards the other woman, fists glowing with energy. She won't take chances this time; she'll crush Melina's skull in and rip off what's left from her neck. Let's see her revive from that, she thought as she limped her way towards the again unmoving body.

Samara knew no fear, but it was hard for her heart not to skip a beat as she saw Melina's fingers twitch, followed closely by her fists clenching and a sharp gasp for air. Digging deep inside her, Samara rushed towards where Melina lay, her fist drawn back, but it was too late.

Like a scene from a bad horror vid, Melina lifted her head to smile at her as Samara closed in. Raising her hand, she caught Samara's punch as the clashing biotic energies resulted in a mighty thunderclap. "It is futile, Justicar…" Melina hissed in an almost whisper as she stood up, her hand clamping down hard on Samara's fist with unnatural strength, causing the justicar to fall to her knees in pain. "Behold the Lady's power!"

"Behold this, instead." Mordin said as shoved the barrel of his pistol into Melina's face. Before he could pull the trigger though, Melina swatted the gun away and tossed Samara into him as the asari dashed backwards to create space between them. Catching Samara, Mordin cradled her in one arm as he opened fire on the retreating asari. "Apologies for the delayed reaction." He said to Samara as he unloaded. "Asari rising from the dead is a new finding to me."

"And to me as well…" Samara said as she fought to stay conscious. "Be careful, doctor. She is unnatural."

Mordin nodded his assent as he fired shot after shot, trying to pin down the evasive asari with little to no success. "Training typical of asari commando unit. Although demonstrates near matriarch levels of biotic capabilities, subject also has healing regeneration unprecedented in asari. Interesting." Mordin observed as he primed an incinerating blast in his omnitool. "Fire resistance still not established. Suggest experimentation." He mused as he sent a ball of fire towards Melina.

"You talk too much!" Melina yelled back as she erected a barrier to absorb and deflect the heat of the blast. "My turn!" With a wave of her hands, she sent a biotic counter-attack towards Mordin.

"Require assistance!" Mordin said tensely to the justicar he was cradling around his arm as the field flew towards both of them.

Samara raised a hand and generated a throw field, crashing against Melina's attack and dissipating it's effects. "She is unlike anything I have fought in the past. Even compared to ardat-yakshi…" She said, staring the younger asari down with a stern, impassive gaze. "In your words, doctor, this is problematic"

"Problematic, indeed." Mordin agreed as he tossed aside the empty pistol and pulled out his SMG. "Still, always did enjoy challenge."

Melina rushed them, wreathed in biotic energy as she dashed. "Too cocky… You should've just shot me when you had the chance!" she taunted with glee as she dodged each shot with grace and ease. "Now you're both going to die!" She cackled.

"Indeed? Made mistake by riding on male bravado stereotype; carried away by the moment." Mordin calmly replied as he kept shooting at Melina who slowly closed the gap between them. "Compensating for previous error by providing sufficient distraction."

"Distraction?" Melina managed to ask before 800 lbs of pissed off krogan tackled her into the ground, breaking her barrier as he did so.

"Distraction." Grunt confirmed as he got up and grabbed one of her feet. With a roar, he swung Melina over his shoulders and slammed her hard into the floor with a sickening crunch. "How do you like that?!" He roared as he lifted her up to slam her back down again with authority. As Grunt continued to thrash Melina, Mordin was busy tending to Samara's injuries, lying her beside the still unconscious Jack.

Samara groaned as she felt the cold floor on her back. "I… do not feel well." She concluded.

"Afraid recent events seem to have exacerbated your condition." He said bluntly as he scanned her with his omnitool. "Injury is… substantial"

"I have lived through worse." Samara said weakly as she felt her extremities go numb. "Thank you, doctor."

"No thanks needed, duty fulfills me." Mordin replied curtly as he produced a syringe. "This will do for the moment, but need to get both you and Jack in the sick bay. Urgently."

Just as he said that, there was a hiss of depressurization as the hull doors of the Normandy lowered itself open as EDI's voice came alive on the Ship's intercom.

"I have regained control of the Normandy." She announced, much to the relief of the cheering crew men inside. "It is advisable for all personnel to return inside."

A number of crewmen began to visually inspect the outside of the ship from the open ramp-like door, greeted by the violence from the recent fighting. Kenneth was one of the first to venture and explore the outside. An easy feat of bravery, seeing as how he was decked up in armor. "Looks like things got a little heated out her- Bloody hell!" Donnelly said as he caught sight of the downed Samara and Jack. "Are they alright?"

"Don't just stare! Need to get them to sickbay! Go, Go, Go!" Mordin yelled and waved down the gawking crew. "Double time! Tell Dr. Chakwas to prep for surgery!"

"Got it, doc! C'mon, you scunners, let's move!" Ken replied as he and several others rushed out with guns at the ready and a couple of stretchers between them. It was then that they noticed Grunt mercilessly pummeling Melina. "Oi now, is that necessary?"

Mordin whistled to grab their attentions. "Very necessary! No time to get distracted! Hurry!"

Grunt roared as he stomped on Melina. "Move it you idiots! I can't hold her down forever!"

Without any further questions, the crewmen huddled around Jack and Samara, transferring them to their stretchers while keeping the women's neck and spine stable.

Mordin nodded approvingly as the crew lifted up the stretchers and made their way back into the ship. He was about to follow them when his gaze fell upon one of the corpses of the Luna Eclipse. "Hmm, curious…" he mused, weighing the dangers and benefits of bringing the body back with him. On one hand, it could help him understand how Melina was able to do the things she did. On the other hand, it could resurrect on the ship and cause more havoc on board.

The decision was made for him when Grunt yelled him out of his reverie. "What's the matter, Mordin? Move your ass!"

Without another word, Mordin scooped up the corpse and hurriedly made his way back up into the ship.

Melina caught sight of this and yelled in protest. "Hey! Where are you taking my sister!?" She was promptly reminded of her current predicament when Grunt kneed her to the gut.

"Don't worry, where she's gone to, you'll be right behind her!" He scoffed as he joined his hands together and gave Melina an axe handle smash to the back of the neck. Grunt was in the process of systematically beating down Melina, not giving her room to breathe as he pressed on with his ravenous assault. This asari was tough, no doubt about it Grunt told himself as she was still managing to try and get back up on her feet after the most savage of attacks. Grunt considered tearing her apart with his jaws, but thought the act too tasteless. "Heh, puns." He snickered to himself as he headbutted Melina for the nth time. "Most krogans would be down by now, lady." He said as Melina still got up to her feet. "And most asari would definitely be a fine paste smeared on the floor." He continued, before giving her a thunderous punch right across the face, snapping her neck and sending her staggering backwards.

Melina managed to stay upright as she staggered backwards; her head twisted 90 degrees in the wrong direction. "Looks like I'm not like most asari." She quipped as she grabbed her head and snapped it back into place with a satisfying crunch. "I'm going to kill you!"

"Come on then!" Grunt said as he charged towards her with a wild swing.

"Ah, too slow." Melina grinned as she leaned backwards to let the krogan's wild punch swing harmlessly pass her, leaving Grunt open for her counter attack. "Now die, little krogan!" Before she could manifest enough energy though, a shot rang out and her body was sent flying limply like a ragdoll.

Legion stood at the foot of the ramp, popping the heat sink on the Mantis sniper rifle. "Consensus: not on our watch."

Grunt looked over incredulously at Legion as if it had just snatched a piece of candy from his maw. "Hey! She was mine!" He said, walking up to the geth.

"Based on our observations, she would've overpowered you in minutes. Intervention was deemed necessary. You are welcome." Legion replied nonchalantly.

"Yeah, yeah..." Grunt conceded. Truthfully, he was thankful for Legion pulling him out of hot water, but he wouldn't let the bag of bolts know that. He watched as Legion reloaded his sniper rifle. "That's not going to put her down." He warned.

"Agreed. We have observed how she fights and came to the conclusion that if this won't kill her..." Legion said, setting aside the gun and pulling out a couple of heavy weapons from his back and handing one to Grunt. "This will definitely slow her down."

"Hah! I like it." Grunt said approvingly as he took one of the Firestorm flame throwers legion had brought with it and put it on active mode. "Let's fry this bitch!"

Melina snarled as she got back up to her feet. "Enough!" she said, her frustrations boiling over after being sucker-punched for the nth time tonight. Her body burst with bluish energy as she eyed them venomously. "No more games, I'll kill you all!" With a sweep of her hands, she generated a huge biotic field that rose several feet into the air. "I'll rip you apart, atom by atom! I'm going to des- Urk!" She stopped midsentence as she gagged and wretched, clutching her chest as pain wracked her body. With a heave, she threw up a voluminous amount of black ooze, hitting the floor with an audible splat. "Wha- What's going-?" She tried to say in between bouts of vomiting, the black substance pooling at her feet. The biotic aura surrounding her gradually dissipated and Melina struggled to stand on both feet. "No- Hurts-!" She gagged as she fell to her knees.

Giving Grunt and Legion enough time to prime their flamethrowers and aim it down the ramp at her.

"You think that hurts?" Grunt stated flatly. "Let's see by how much compared to this."

They pulled the triggers and two torrents of flame spat down on Melina, engulfing her in a blazing inferno. She screeched and wailed in agony, the pain nearly immeasurable as the flames licked and devoured her flesh. But even in the heart of the fire, she still lived, no matter how much she wished she could be dead at this point. She felt something well up inside her, and her mouth stretched open into a gaping maw as she let out a shrill, high pitch wail.

Grunt felt the heat lick at his face but kept pouring out the flames, Melina's yelling sending an unnatural chill down his spine. "How is she still yelling?" He asked in frustration as Melina's screaming started to rise above the crackling of the fire, a lithe, slender silhouette contorting in the blaze. "Why won't she just die!?"

"Insufficient data." Legion replied, "Observation: Fuel levels dropping; suggest withdrawal as the next course of action."

"If we let this bitch go and it could spell trouble for the others still out here!" Grunt snapped, painfully aware that his fuel level just dropped below 50% and the asari was still thrashing in the fires. "We put her down right here, right now!"

"Alert, there is a strange energy spike generating within the fire." Legion said, it's optics fixed on Melina.

"What are you-?"

There was a loud snap in the air as a biotic field exploded from the fire, extinguishing the flame and sending both of them down on the ground. The field subsided, revealing Melina's naked, hunched form kneeling on the ground, her head hanging down in a bow. Even though her armor was completely burned into nothingness, her body seemed completely unharmed.

Grunt got back up to his knees, groaning as his body protested against movement. "What the frag…?" He whispered as he eyed the naked asari kneeling near the foot of the ramp.

"Repeat, we suggest immediate withdrawal." Legion said as it got back up.

Before Legion and Grunt could raise their weapons again, her head snapped up, revealing pitch black eyes and a gaping maw lined with needle sharp teeth that screeched an unholy wail. Her skin started to burst as bone and muscle twisted and started to swell, stretching her limbs into slender appendages as her hands and feet ended in vicious talons that exploded out of her fingertips. She got to her feet, revealing that she had grown in height, easily towering over both Legion and Grunt.

Grunt primed the flame thrower and sprayed another torrent of flame at her, with Legion stepping up beside him and doing the same. "EDI! SHUT THE RAMP! NOW!" He yelled as the fires engulfed the monster that was once Melina.

The ramp started to rise, closing painfully slow for comfort, but fiery talons burst from the flames and latched onto it. The monster started to crawl up towards them as the ramp rose, wailing it's high pitch screeches that seemed to send chills even in Legion's mechanical spine. The crew still in the shuttle bay started to back away as fear seemed to grip them, making them flee in terror.

"Alert: Weapon empty!" Legion said as his flamethrower fuel reached zero.

"Pyjak cunts!" Grunt cursed as his flamethrower did the same as well.

Both of them tossed aside their empty weapons and looked at the still flaming horror that was about to befall them.


	24. The Break Out Part 1

Chapter 23: The Break Out Part 1

* * *

><p>Panic filled the shuttle bay of the Normandy as the hideous monstrosity that used to be Melina clambered it's way up the ramp, wailing like some kind of banshee out of hell. The skin of her beautiful face seemed to be sloughing off, revealing a grotesque parody of it underneath, with pitch black eyes and a gaping maw lined with needle like teeth. Most of the crewmen crowded to get to the elevator, while those who were armed with rifles set up defensive positions and started to open fire to little or no effect. Grunt and Legion slowly backed away as the creature approached, it's talon's easily tearing into the reinforced alloy ramp as if it were butter as it climbed up.<p>

"Cross referencing unknown organism with databanks of every documented species in the galaxy. Results: Match not found. Conclusion: should have brought more guns." Legion said, causing Grunt to look at it funny.

"You think so?" The krogan growled, as the rifle fire from the crew men didn't even seem to hurt the monster, let alone faze it. "And here I thought we were doing just fine."

"We cannot let it further into the ship. Doing so will compromise lives and resources."

"Way ahead of you, Legion." Grunt snarled as he smacked his fists together. "Why don't you go fetch us some heavy weapons while I deal with this?"

Before Legion could ask him to specify what he meant, Grunt roared at the monster and charged it, tackling it head on and sending both of them falling off the ramp and out of the ship. The monster flailed in his grip and screamed at him as they fell, and Grunt head butted it in reply. The pair landed roughly, with Melina taking the worst of it having been beneath him when they fell. He rolled off of Melina as soon as the feeling returned to his legs, creating space between himself and the monster.

Like a puppet being pulled up by the strings, Melina slowly stood up, black ooze dripping from the tears in her skin and dribbling from her mouth like drool. Her eyes focused on Grunt, a steady and low growl forming in its throat, before it wailed it's fury at him. A biotic field erupted around her as she started her way towards Grunt.

"Legion better fragging hurry with those guns." Grunt muttered to himself as Melina approached him, brandishing her impossibly sharp talons threateningly. The field around her flickered, and the monster suddenly dashed towards him with a biotic boost. It could seemingly do so for only short distances at a time, but the suddenness was enough to take Grunt unawares. Before he knew it, it was within striking distance, and he just barely dodged the furious swipes aimed to disembowel him. "Crazy bitch!" He cursed as his eyes darted to and fro looking for something, anything, he can use to fight back.

Just as Melina was about to fall upon him again, the floor started to shake. Grunt fell off balance, the move luckily helping him dodge another swipe that would have shredded his head messily off. Suddenly, the floor started to move, separating at a seam between Grunt and the Monster, parting them as the panels opened up to reveal something below them. "The hell is this?" he asked nobody in particular, more thankful that whatever was going on got him away from that thing. Huge robotic arms rose from the now open pit, bringing up huge slabs of metal alloy that attached to the hull of the ship with a pressurized hiss. "Well I'll be damned. Hah!" Grunt said with a booming laugh as the gaping hole on the bottom of the Normandy was now slowly being covered as more panels were attached to it. A welding laser ran across the seams of the panels, securing them shut air-tight.

The sound of air snapping brought his attention back to his situation, and he noticed the monster was now dashing it's way around the obstacles just to get at him again.

"You want some more!?" Grunt bellowed to her, picking up a large piece of debris from the wreck of an Ymir mech, brandishing the jagged hunk of metal like some kind of club or axe. "Come get some!"

* * *

><p>Tali'Zorah had to hold in a squeal of victory after she had finally initiated the program sequence. The sound of heavy machinery in the distance made her pump her fist in the air though. Standing up from the chair, she locked the system with the heaviest encryptions she knew. And just in case those weren't enough, she pulled out her shotgun and blasted the access panels to pieces.<p>

"This is Tali'Zorah to the Normandy," she began, hailing the Normandy on her comm. "Mission accomplished, where's that extraction I was promised?" The comm crackled and EDI replied to her.

"Hull reinstallation underway, thank you Tali." The AI began. "Unfortunately all hands are either preoccupied or incapacitated to facilitate your extraction."

"What happened? Are the Eclipse moving out?"

"No. from what I understand, it is categorically worse." EDI explained. "One of the asari commandos seems to have mutated into some sort of abomination Grunt is dealing with the problem as we speak. I do not know if he can last long enough."

Tali tried to wrap her head around what she just heard, but after everything she's been through these past couple of years, it took a lot for her to be skeptical. "Understood, I'll head back on foot as fast as I can and see if I can provide assistance." She said, walking towards the door. "I'll maintain radio contact for updates, Tali'Zorah out."

The doors slid open, and she was still greeted by the same emptiness she came from. With all the commotion from the ventral hull armor re-installation she wondered how long that would last. With a deep breath, she started making the long run back to the ship, shotgun in hand.

* * *

><p>The main office of the Ban'Torvias shipyard was situated inside a fairly large sealed off compound in the far corner of the shipyard. It housed a large courtyard-like area that easily accommodated the Eclipse and another sealed off structure which was the main office proper. It was designed so that the proprietors could withstand pirate raids and the occasional Eezo core fuel leak. Both of which were commonplace in Omega.<p>

What was left of the Omega Eclipse had rallied inside the said courtyard, their number considerably less than what they had started with earlier in the day. To say that everyone was on edge was an understatement. Many friends and comrades were lost that day, and the resentment of the non-asari mercs for their leader seemed to reach a fever pitch. It started slowly at first, but eventually the Eclipse had segregated into two crowds: the asari and everybody else.

Lt. Kerys Mata found it unusual that the lieutenants who were called for the meeting with Tarrana did not include her or any of her remaining sisters. When she tried to make her way into the office, she was stopped by the other non-asari lieutenants who were left outside, seemingly to guard the door. They were led by Delany, a human who she was always at odds with. "Let me pass, Delany." She said impatiently as the human barred her way. "I have business with the Lady."

"I said it before and I'll say it again, Lady Tarrana's orders stated not to let anybody disturb the meeting." Lt. Michael Delany of the Eclipse said as he and several other non-asari lieutenants, with their men in tow, stood guard at the front of the Ban'Torvias shipyard main office. Filon had given him clear instructions; keep the asari in line while he did his business with Tarrana. Truth be told, he'd be happy to just simply do away with these bitches right now. Odds were that they'd all go berserk should they discover their precious lady was killed. It seemed that every non-asari lieutenant was in on the scheme, he thought, noticing several other units casually positioned around the asari to easily outflank them should worst come to worst. He just wished Filon would hurry it up. "Why don't you and your girls get out of my face, Kerys? Standby and await for further orders!" He said gruffly as the asari in front of him regarded him defiantly.

"Maybe you've forgotten, Delany, but I'm a lieutenant too." Kerys replied haughtily, poking a finger into Delany's chest plate. "So don't think you can get off on ordering me, or my girls, around like that ever again." A couple of dozen asari mercs bolstered her position behind her, all on edge as they were easily outnumbered. "What kind of meeting is this that none of the asari lieutenants were called to take part in it? For that matter, why are you so eager to not let anybody past your little barricade, hmm?"

"I told you…" The human lieutenant said as he brushed off her hand on his chest. "Lady Tarrana's orders! I don't question her, I just obey, and you should too." Ever since Tarrana took command, the asari seemed to have adopted a better than you kind of attitude. This bitch in particular always got on his nerves.

Another asari lieutenant and her unit approached the two as they bickered, a sneer on her face. "I don't like this…" She observed, standing next to Kerys and crossing her arms. "This reeks of deception… The only ones to go in there were Filon and his associates."

"Save the conspiracy theories, Vivian." Delany said, playing off the accusations. "It doesn't matter to me whether you like it or not, just so long as you two stay behind this line, then we won't be having any problems."

As he said this, a third asari lieutenant joined the other two, her scarred face impassive but her words were sharp. "And what if I want to give you problems, eh Delany?"

Delany groaned as the 7 other non-asari lieutenants stepped forward beside him, casually brandishing their weapons. "Look, we outnumber you easily, Alina." He began, getting in her face. "Should you decide to give me a problem, it would be a very _brief_ problem, understand? Come on now, I don't know what's gotten you girls so riled up, but the final say is that you can't come in!"

Kerys stepped up to him, not the least bit intimidated by the display. "Really now? Or else what, tough guy?"

"Keep pushing it and you'll find out, princess." Delany said, just short of straight up pointing his gun at her. "So help me, keep pushing it."

A hush fell on the entire Eclipse as an unseen line was drawn between the two groups. The uneasy tension in the air hung thick as both sides stared each other down, with the rest of the remaining asari lieutenants stepping up beside the first three. Hands were slowly going for weapons as neither group intended to budge from their position. Old grudges started to bubble over to the surface, and like a bomb on a short fuse, tension was about to give way to violence.

Just as the fighting was about to flare up, the whirring of mechanical doors opening caused both parties to stop and look. Delany was all but relieved, expecting to see a victorious Filon swagger out of the office, entourage in tow and deliver an ultimatum to the asari. All he saw past the doorway however was utter darkness. The only thing they could hear from the void was the ominous pitter patter of metal heels on floor. And there was only one person in the Omega Eclipse known for her metal heels.

Delany started to back away unconsciously as the steps grew closer to the door. It couldn't be, he thought. It must be a joke meant to raise the asari's hopes! There's no possible way she could still be alive.

Then as if to confirm his darkest fears, Tarrana slowly stepped out into the light, that same look of amused superiority etched onto her face. "Forgive the delay, my darlings." She began, walking up to where the lieutenants were having their standoff, the crowd of soldiers parting to give her way. "I had to change into some new armor. The old one couldn't take the heat…"

Delany couldn't believe his eyes. This was… This was really happening, wasn't it? He heard a series of clicks behind him and turned to see that the asari had all dropped to one knee at Tarranas approach. This was unfair, Filon told them he had it all figured out. He promised them this nightmare was over. But as Tarrana finally stood in front of them however, he knew this nightmare was just beginning.

"What is the matter, dear Michael?" Tarrana spoke, making Delany realize how he had been staring at her this whole time with his jaw hanging open. "It looks like you have seen a ghost…"

"I… Um, forgive me, my lady…" He conceded, averting his eyes from her, only to feel her hand roughly grab his chin and turn his face back towards hers. Her grip was like steel, and it was all he could do to keep himself from grimacing. "My lady?" he asked, scared and confused.

"Why did you look away, dear? If you wanted a closer look, all you needed to do was ask…" She said seductively as she turned her head, giving him a good look at her face from different angles. "Well? Look at me." she said, winking at him. "Do I pass your standards?"

He was close to pissing himself now. His eyes wandered to the sides to see that the lieutenants who had all stood by him before had now seemingly dispersed back into the crowd. Everyone was kneeling now, and only the two of them remained standing. They'd left him to hang dry, he realized. As if to cement this fact, the hand on his chin tightened its grip, grabbing his attention once more.

"Michael…" Tarrana snarled, grabbing the side of his head with her other hand and bringing her face closer to his. "I told you to look at me!"

"My lady… But… I…" he stammered, his mind too flustered to form a coherent sentence. Her dark eyes seemed to shake with barely kept rage, but her face was still that mask of sweetness. "Please…!"

"What's this?" she asked, her warm breath brushing over his lips. "Didn't you just tell everybody here that you didn't question my orders? That you just obeyed?"

"I…" He began to say but couldn't find the words, his heart pounding in his ears. She knew, he realized, feeling a wet trickle go down his leg. He didn't know how she killed all of them inside the office but she did. And she knew. "I… I can explain." He cursed Filon, wondering how the salarian could've screwed up in such an astronomical scale.

"I care not for your explanations." Tarrana dismissed, moving her lips close to Delany's ear, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Do you swear yourself to me, Michael?"

Delany was quick to give his assent. "Yes! Yes my lady! I swear my loyalty unto you! I will do as you command! My life is yours and yours alone!"

"Good. I'll be taking it, then." With a twist of her hands still firmly grabbing Delany's head, Tarrana snapped the man's neck, letting the limp body fall unceremoniously to the ground. A collective gulp from the other non-asari lieutenants could almost be heard from the silence as Tarrana stepped over the corpse, looking around at all present. The lady of the Eclipse smiled mischievously, bringing a hand to her lips as if to say oops. "My, my, all of you look so somber…" She observed with a giggle. "Come now, why the long faces?"

Only the asari did not turn to look at those beside them nervously, whispering urgently under their breaths, wondering who would be next. As if she could read their minds, and as far as they knew she probably could, she laughed, a beautiful and terrifying sound to behold. "I suppose it is technically a funeral so I shall let it slide this time…" Tarrana said with a look of amusement on her face, crossing her arms. "Stand, all of you. There is still much work to be done, yes?"

In unison, the Eclipse got to their feet, all spirit of rebellion and defiance quietly broken in the face of their Lady.

"I said I wanted that ship. A simple request, but let us see what our progress is, hmm?" Tarrana continued, pacing back and forth from where she stood, metal heels stabbing into Delany as she stepped over his corpse. She activated an omnitool and projected data through a huge hologram that appeared above her head. "Now then, can anybody explain to me why the virus upload was halted? Or how someone was able to ransack through our system without anybody so much as catching on?"

A number of techs silently pulled out their omnitools to confirm this, gulping in unison as they realized something so crucial had slipped past underneath their noses. They were prepared for the worst, but Tarrana just continued on.

"Or maybe you can tell me why you've all left your posts, leaving crucial sites like the control panel for the robotic machinery completely unguarded?" She said, switching to a vid feed that showed the Normandy being armored up. The feeling of fear and dread seemed to reach a crescendo as Tarrana's gaze seem to fixate on each and every one of them, piercing through their very soul as if she contemplated on consuming it. "Oh my, look at you all… Like scolded children the. Children who all deserve punishment… Severe. Punishment." She said sinisterly, causing more than one man to entertain the thought of running. "But if I were to be appeased, I can overlook this little… incident. I want that ship, my darlings." The hologram switched off with a loud click that made some of the troopers visibly jump. "I want that ship very, very badly... It's absence from my possession hurts me, my dears; oh how it hurts me so!" she said, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead and looking up to the ceiling with a swirl in an extravagant display of despair. "I suffer without it in my life…" she continued, turning as if to look each and every one of them in the eye. "I beg of you, my children… Do not prolong my suffering more than you already have…" she said, as all cover of motherly affection started to melt away from her expression. "GET ME THAT SHIP!" She yelled, making even the toughest of the mercs present feel goosebumps and instilling terror in their hearts. "Don't just stand there and gawk at me you idiots! Move! Move! So help me, I'll start killing you all!" as if to make good on her promise, flames suddenly covered her hands, the blasts being primed in her omnitools.

Like a raging stampede, the Eclipse made their way towards the exit of the small compound where the main office was situated, just short of clambering over each other to get away from her wrath.

"FASTER!" Tarrana yelled as she hurled the incinerating blasts randomly into the crowd, catching a salarian female and a human male in the impact radius. The pair shrieked and crumbled into smoldering ashes, the horrible sight making the rest push and shove just to get past the gates. Tarrana smiled as the last trooper practically sprinted his way out, diving to a roll just to get past the gates and out of her range. She laughed as the man disappeared from sight. "Funny how eager everybody wants to live once you start killing everything in sight…" she mused.

Then she felt it, like a ripple in her mind. Her smile faded, and a look of disappointment showed on her face. "Oh Melina…" she mused. "It would seem that the Father's cells have rejected you. Oh, and I had such high hopes for you, too." She pouted for a bit, before perking up and following the rest of her men outside. "Still, a mindless beast does have its uses. Make me proud before you die, dear Melina…"

* * *

><p>The trio of Garrus, Kasumi and Joker made their way as fast as they could along the shipyard. Cover was sparse but they were almost there. A couple of minutes ago, they saw the beginning of the ongoing reinstallation of the Normandy's hull armor, greatly boosting their morale as they made their way closer and closer to home.<p>

Kasumi was panting now as she had to support Joker on her shoulders. "How.. How much further?" She asked, gasping for breath.

Joker had a mixed look of guilt and concern etched on his face "Not much further Kasumi, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm a sprinter… Not, not a Marathon… Runner!" she managed to stammer as she kept going. "But I'll be damned if I let exhaustion get the better of me."

Joker hung his head, "Sorry." That was all he could do, wasn't it? Say he was sorry. Outside of that cockpit up in the Normandy, this was all he was to other people, a burden, a charity case, a joke. Having bones made out of styrofoam usually does that to a person. He couldn't even take care of himself, much less of those around him.

"Quit it." Kasumi said, making Joker turn to her again.

"What?" Joker asked.

"That woe-is-me attitude." She specified. "I'm nipping that in the bud. Quit it."

"I didn't say anything." Joker said defensively.

"You didn't have to, Joker." Kasumi replied calmly.

"What do you want me to do, huh?" He said, "I know I'm just being a damn burden; no sense in denying it."

"You know you've damn well proven you aren't, already." Kasumi retorted.

"Oh yeah?" Joker challenged.

"Oh yeah." She replied. "Ace pilot in the alliance, big damn hero who helped save the galaxy not once but twice. Hell, what does it take? Not even Garrus' ego is that big."

Garrus called back to them. "I can hear you, you know?"

"See? There are tons of people named Garrus and he immediately thinks we're talking about him." Kasumi said, causing the turian to just roll his eyes. "Don't beat yourself up now, your people need you." She grinned.

Joker laughed. "I get it, I'll try not to be a negative nancy." He said, feeling better despite himself. "Thanks, Kasumi."

Garrus cursed under his breath as he saw a wave of yellow armor appear in the distance. "Shit, get down!" He said as he hurried behind cover, with Kasumi helping a limp joker just right behind him. "Damn it, looks like break-time is over for the Eclipse. Shame, we were halfway home, too." He flipped open his comm to hail the Normandy and give them a heads up, but all he got was the blare of static. "Jammed again. Damn it all to hell." This was falling apart pretty quick, he thought.

Kasumi was panting as she steadied to catch her breath, carefully leaning against the crate they hid behind so as not to injure Joker. "Wonderful." She stammered. "Because the peace, quiet and lack of flying bullets was beginning to bore me."

Joker grimaced at the sudden change in position, gingerly adjusting his posture. "Speak for yourself, quiet and boring suits me just fine."

Garrus rolled his eyes and peeked out of cover with the scope of his rifle. "Let me see just how bad it is." Something got the Eclipse riled up alright, as the mercs were practically sprinting all over the place, taking up positions and advancing steadily towards the Normandy in the distance. There was too much open space to navigate the rest of the way stealthily. Kasumi would be able to do so with ease, but not with him and Joker slowing her down. He clicked his tongue as he observed a group of techs open up a huge cargo trailer and unloaded a couple of dozen Lokis to bolster their ranks. As if they didn't have enough trouble already, he thought to himself. "I'm going to be blunt with you two." Garrus said as he sat back down, turning to Joker and Kasumi "There is no way we're getting from here to there without being shot at more than once." Kasumi sighed at his observations while Joker groaned. "Hey, I'm not trying to be a downer here. I'm just telling it like it is."

Kasumi pulled out her SMG and checked its specs. "Could have fooled me." She said, turning the weapon's safety off. "We better hurry then before they discover us; the longer we stay here, the higher the odds they can pin us down."

"Agreed." Garrus said, getting up to a crouch, cradling his gun as he did so. "We need a damn miracle to pulls us through this one."

As if on cue, the gates leading into the shipyard from the inner space station exploded in the distance.

Garrus couldn't believe his eyes as he saw 3 trucks zoom into the shipyard, swooping down on the unsuspecting Eclipse. "Well I'll be damned."

Kasumi knocked him on the shoulder to get his attention. "Well?" she said, getting up with Joker. "There's your damn miracle, now let's go!"

Joker grunted in pain as he struggled to keep up with the suddenly energetic Kasumi. "You heard the lady, move it slowpoke!"

Garrus just shook his head and rushed after them, sniper rifle raised and ready to give covering fire.

* * *

><p>If there was ever an award for timely intervention, Shepard would have been in the hall of fame as he made the final adjustments to the black and white light armor he was wearing while the convoy of trucks rushed into the Shipyard, taking the Eclipse by surprise. "Looks like the Eclipse, alright." He mused, watching the feeds from the truck's external vidcam. "The others already tagged a bunch of them though." He added with pride, noticing the strewn about corpses all over the yard. Turning on his comm, he tuned into the Normandy's frequency and hailed it. "This is Commander Shepard; does anybody read me, over?" nothing but static. "I repeat, this is Commander Shepard, does anybody copy? Joker? EDI? Anybody? Over?"<p>

Miranda placed a hand on his shoulder, "It must be jammed, Shepard, save your breath. There seems to be plenty of fighting left up ahead."

"Right, right…" Shepard said, turning off the comm and facing his squad. He needed to keep it together. "Alright guys, we're almost home." He said, looking around at all the faces aboard the truck. "And of course, we offer our guests sanctuary should they choose to accept?" At this Feron bowed his head slightly in appreciation. "Almost, but we're not there yet." Shepard continued, pacing around the back of the truck. "We've gone through one hell of a day. We've literally fought through armies at this point. You've given everything you could just to crawl out of death's grip. But I ask this of you, please, just a little bit more. They think they can just take death to our doorstep and live to tell the tale. They think they can take us when we're at our most vulnerable. I think they don't know the meaning of the word. Vulnerable is what they're going to be after they crash against us with everything they have and find that we're still standing. We're almost home ladies and gentlemen, and I'm not going to let a bunch of rank amateurs, goons in uniforms, think they can take on professionals without dire consequences!"

At some point during the speech, his words were being transmitted to all the trucks in the convoy, and when he finished, even the Shadow Broker operatives' morale were soaring.

Feron, who was standing next to Miranda, leaned close to her and whispered. "Is he always so… Passionate?"

Miranda chuckled. "The man's the best at what he does for a reason."

"I see."

Shepard took a deep breath as he slipped on his helmet. All he saw was black until the HUD activated, synching up with his omnitool and armor CPUs. He looked around to see his squad and the rest of the Shadow Broker operatives were nicely geared up and ready for combat. Zaeed was busy stuffing thermal clips into an ammo pack strapped around his shoulder, whistling a tune to himself as he repeated the same thing to another ammo pack, this time strapped onto his forearm. The dulled out sounds of gun fire from outside seemed distant, but he knew he was about to let death have another go at him. Not that he was going to make it easy for the bastards, however.

Jacob cocked his shotgun, watching the vidscreen mounted in the back of the truck as the Eclipse scattered, the trucks blasting away with their cannons trying to keep the mercs off balance. Beside him, Miranda downed a can of energy drink, shaking off the fatigue of a whole night of fighting and to help her power her biotic abilities. The truck shook now and then, but the fairly plain looking vehicle not only had hidden weaponry but state of the art shielding and armor.

Thane opened his eyes as he finished his prayers, taking a deep breath as he felt the tingling numbness in his finger-tips. It was happening more frequently than he would like now, but he needed to go on just a bit further for tonight.

"Hey, Krios…" a voice said. Thane turned his head to see that it was Aria, propping herself up on her elbow as she held his coat against her bandaged, bare chest. "Here's your coat."

Before she could hand it to him, he shook his head. "Keep it, for now." He said, instead grabbing a pair of pistols and holstering them to his sides. "I wore it more for the style than the utility, anyway."

"Whatever." Aria said, lying back down gingerly. Thane didn't reply as she watched him grab an assault rifle, checking the specs and storing it on his back. "Thanks." She said, before turning to her side with her back to him.

"You're welcome." He replied, not looking at her.

Miranda walked up to Shepard, SMG already in hand. "What's the plan, Shepard?"

"We don't have any info on what's going on yet." He began, pulling the slide of his assault rifle. "First things first is to establish contact with the Normandy to drop of our wounded and get an idea of the situation. We'll take it from there."

"Understood."

The intercom in the back of the truck buzzed. "I have visual on the Shuttle bay of the Normandy." The pilot began. "I can't hail it so we'll have to land next to the ship and hope they get a visual of one of you to open the door, Comman- What the hell is that?!"

"What's wrong?" Feron asked.

"Patching it through the vidfeed. Better see for yourself, sir."

The vidfeed flickered before it depicted some kind of slender monster swiping away at a krogan who was just barely dodging it's talons.

Feron squinted his eyes as he stepped closer. "What in the…"

Shepard however was more concerned about the krogan. "That's Grunt! Get us on the ground, quick! He needs assistance!"

"Understood. Focus on getting everybody else back inside your ship, Shepard." Feron said, slipping a recon hood over his head. "I know what that monstrosity is."

"What is it?"

Feron stepped to the back of the truck where the doors were, reaching into his coat and pulling out a long, sheathed blade. "That monstrosity is mine."

"Don't get in over your head, Feron." Shepard told him as the doors of the truck opened, letting the howl of gunfire fill the back.

"Always." Feron said, before jumping out, coat billowing in the wind.

"Feron!" Shepard called out, then he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Thane holding him back.

"Let him be." Thane began, "He is hanar-trained, same as I am. He'll keep that thing preoccupied so we can land unmolested."

"You sound so sure."

"Of course," Thane replied as if he could be anything but. "I have pride in my colleagues."

"If you say so… Pilot! Land this thing!"

* * *

><p>Grunt roared in pain as Melina's claws cut a gash through his bicep, blood spurting like a fountain from the wound. It would heal, but he was going to have a lot of very interesting scars come the end of this battle. If he survived, that is. That was when a truck swooped above them, and somebody jumped out, a maroon colored coat flowing in the wind as he fell.<p>

Just as the monster raised a long arm for another swipe, a bone chilling howl escaping its maw, the falling man pulled out a sword and cut the monster from behind as he fell. Melina screamed in pain and stumbled, giving Grunt and opening to slam his make-shift club into her side and sending her falling over to the ground. The new comer glowed with biotics as he flung a throw field towards Melina, sending the monster flying. "Thanks, but that's not going to do her in." Grunt said, grabbing his bicep to quell the bleeding long enough for his regeneration to kick in. The man just looked at him, tilting his head to the side in skepticism. "Trust me."

"Really, now?" Feron replied, looking back towards the monster who was slowly getting back up. "Give me the short version, then."

"Regeneration, biotics, and ugly as hell." Grunt counted off, "Name's Grunt. No offense, but who the frag are you?"

"Feron." Feron replied, pulling out his sword again and started walking towards the now approaching monster, his body covered in a biotic aura. "I came with Shepard. He'll be landing with the trucks."

"Heh, figured as much." Grunt said as he watched Feron dash off before turning towards the now landing convoy of trucks. He didn't need to know what kind of armor Shepard was wearing to figure out which one he was. Shepard was always the one who got off into a hot zone first. "Shepard!" He said, waving his good arm. "Battle master! Over here!"

"Grunt!" Shepard said, practically running up to him after hopping out of the truck. "What happened here? You're injured!"

"Not going to lie, this was a crazy night." Grunt said. "Here's the short version…"


	25. The Break Out Part 2

Chapter 24: The Break Out Part 2

* * *

><p>Shots were starting to fly in the air as the advancing Eclipse tried to pick out Shepard and his group from afar. Too bad for them that the Shadow Broker operatives mostly consisted of some of the best damn snipers Shepard had ever seen. The Eclipse immediately regretted initiating the exchange when these crack shots made their reply with more than a dozen Widow heavy sniper rifles, dropping targets off in the distance.<p>

In the midst of the fire fight, Jacob and Miranda worked together to create large biotic barriers to help generate some cover for the others who were still setting up in defensive positions against the advancing mercs. Sniper rounds crashed against their barriers, holding steadfast as agents filed out of the convoy of trucks, setting up cover nodes or jumping behind crates and barrels.

Zaeed set his revenant up behind some barrels, switching the weapon to disruptor rounds to deal with the droid heavy forces of the Eclipse. "How bloody long does it take for somebody to look out of a Goddamn window?" he growled, eyeing the still closed ramp of the Normandy behind them expectantly. "EDI should have detected us by now!"

"She must have rebooted! I can't hail anybody either, the comms are still jammed!" Miranda replied over the escalating rate of fire. "Give her a minute! At least we don't have to worry about dealing with whatever _that_ is!" she said, pointing over to where Feron was fighting off the monster.

Zaeed looked over and laughed, "Are you kidding? It would be one hell of a story to tell if I could take that thing down!"

Jacob merely grinned in amusement despite the situation as he generated another barrier, deflecting fatal shots from tagging him and a couple of others at the last second. "So what's stopping you, old man?"

"I pulled my hip getting out of the truck." Zaeed said straight faced, making Miranda's eyes roll and Jacob raise his eyebrow. "That monster's lucky, let me tell you…"

"Right…" Jacob and Miranda said together, with various mixtures of amusement and annoyance in their tones.

"Still, looks like that Feron lad has us covered pretty well." Zaeed said with a sly grin. "Your thoughts, Krios?"

Meanwhile, Thane got his hands on a sniper rifle, joining the other snipers in their duel. Every shot of his not only popped the head off of his target, but hit a collateral victim every other shot or so. "Do not concern yourself with that battle." He observed, casually firing off another shot. "The rest of the enemy is quickly coming into range."

"See? He agrees with me." Zaeed said, pulling the slide of his gun and aiming down it's sights, waiting for a poor fool to come into range.

* * *

><p>Originally, the hanar trained their assassins in the art of delivering a quick death to their targets via a single, generalized school of thought and technique. Through the millennia however, drell culture and tradition mixed with these teachings setting up diverse sects of methodology, each with vastly different methods of assassination. For flexibility's sake, assassins adhere to no single technique, but still tended to lean on one in particular more than the others. There were the scoundrels, who blended in with their targets and dealt death with stealth and treachery. There were the warlocks, whose biotic mastery was harnessed to summon raging tempests and rip apart all in their wake, atom by excruciating atom. Still, there were the hunters, whose mastery of firearms and eagle-eyed aim made them fatal from any distance. And then there were those who adhered to the old ways, whose minds dipped in between lucidity and the battle-sleep, wielding the weapons of their ancestors.<p>

That kind of state usually took masters years of intense training and meditation. But for Feron, a year of constant, intense torture care of the Shadow Broker was all he needed. The old broker was trying to use the drells' unique physiology to his advantage by attempting to brainwash him into a living weapon. Training sims were force fed into his mind as the same stimulation was meant to fry his frontal lobes. Fortunately for Feron, Shepard and Liara's timely rescue prevented this, leaving him with his mind intact and with something more.

It wasn't really his style to begin with, and honestly the price was too damn high. But Feron couldn't argue with the results when he resorted to using it. When his blade left it's sheathe, it would sing to him, begging for someone to die violently on it's razor edge. He just wished he could have gutted the old broker, himself.

Feron stared down the shrieking Melina as she brandished her talons at him, flashing a mouthful of sharp teeth as she did so. He had brought them a fair distance from the Normandy, opposite the side where the Eclipse was advancing to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. In his left hand, he held a long blade still hidden in its sheathe; while his right hand held its handle firmly. Without warning, Melina dashed right at him, her talons flashing as she slashed away in a flurry of swipes.

The talons snagged the tail of his long coat, shredding it with ease as Feron jumped backwards, ducking, dodging and sidestepping the assault. He clicked his tongue in frustration and annoyance as he was unable to close in and retaliate. He just needed an opening, he thought as the surprisingly agile beast kept the pressure on him. The monster drew back its claws and thrust them towards Feron, trying to impale him on the cruel appendages.

Kicking off the floor, Feron flipped into the air, the monster's talons missing him by inches as he glided safely above it. Drawing out his sword, he drew back his arm and jabbed the blade into the top of Melina's head, sinking it in with satisfaction before twisting the blade in her head and pulling it out, black ooze spurting forth from the wound. Landing behind Melina, he turned around and delivered another slash down her spine, sending more black ooze splattering to the ground. Melina screamed in pain as she turned around to face her attacker, swinging wildly, but Feron had already stepped out of harm's way by then.

"Damn it…" he mused, backing away and seeing Melina was still moving even after he had just obliterated her brain and spinal cord. He gave his sword a quick flick in the air to clean off the ooze still clinging to the blade and sheathed it. "This is going to get real old, real fast isn't it?" He asked the monster as it wailed in pain and fury. The ooze was annoying, that much was for certain, and now the monster was bleeding so much of it. Wait a minute, he realized, it was still _bleeding_. The krogan called Grunt said it had some kind of regenerative power, but the black ooze flowed freely with no signs of abating. Grunt also told him it could use biotics, but so far there were no signs of that. Is it possible that whatever abilities she did possess were weakening? That got him thinking as Melina crouched, ready to pounce on him again. "Let's test out this theory of mine, shall we?"

With a bone-chilling shriek, Melina lunged at him, claws outstretched and reaching out to shred Feron to pieces. Feron kept back flipping as she converged upon him, managing to dodge her blows by mere inches. He dove to a roll underneath a wild swipe and drew out his sword, intent on chopping her into two pieces. Before he could swing the blade however, Melina kicked him away, his barrier barely holding together from the force of the blow. Feron managed to land on his feet, the kick sending him a fair distance apart from the beast. It would appear that this was not going to be so simple, he thought to himself as Melina charged towards him again.

* * *

><p>Shepard took Grunt into cover behind one of the trucks as they waited for the Normandy to notice they were right outside, listening to his recount of the events. The shooting was intensifying now as the constant sound of gunfire filled the air.<p>

The krogan flexed his arm experimentally, blood still flowing from his wound much to his annoyance. His healing factor was nearly burning itself out. "So yeah, Eclipse, psychotic bitches, nightmarish monster, Jack and Samara injured… Let's skip all that and I'll jump straight to the most important bits we can do something about." Grunt huffed, leaning against the truck as Shepard applied medigel to his wound. "We still got people out there," he began, projecting a map of the area with his omnitool, highlighting two different locations. "Garrus and Joker ended up over here in this sector along with Kasumi. While Tali is off on her own over there."

"She's what?" Shepard demanded, the last half of the news causing him to look at the map, his instincts telling him to run as fast as he could in whatever direction that may be. "What the hell is she doing there without back up?"

"Because there wasn't any back up, Shepard." Grunt said, jerking his thumb towards the massive robotic arms underneath the Normandy that were fixing the armor platings in place. The thermal rounds splashing against it doing little to no damage to the industrial grade make of the machinery. "Your girlfriend was the only one of us who wasn't fighting for her life at the time to get the job done." He said. "The Normandy wasn't space worthy without that layer of armor being put on her right now, so she went ahead and did something about it."

"That's my girl…" Shepard conceded, his thoughts clashing with pride and worry. Sometimes he had trouble remembering she wasn't a damsel in distress or a fragile little girl, but a capable warrior and invaluable asset to the crew. She was as skilled and dangerous as anybody else on his team, despite how much she may act otherwise. Still, it didn't mean that he was free from feeling worried about her from time to time. A thought crossed his mind. When he was out there, putting his life in danger time and time and time again, did Tali feel like this? She must have, he thought as the realization dawned upon him. God, how could he be so damn clueless? No wonder she was upset. Wait, he thought, Grunt said something about Jack and Samara. "Time out, Jack and Samara are injured? How are they?" he asked urgently.

"You should've seen it, Shepard. Hah! The three of us really cleaned out the house. The reason why I'm still up is that I'm just the lucky one with a redundant nervous system and healing factor." He boasted. "They're receiving medical care in the ship from Doc Chakwas and Mordin, they'll be fine." Grunt dismissed, "It's the ones who are stuck out here like us who you need to worry about."

"They'll never make it back here on foot." He replied, focusing on the reality at hand. "We'll have to extract them."

"What? In this storm of bullets?" Grunt scoffed. "I don't think you can cut an opening through the Eclipse short of venting the whole damn place. We're going to have to outfight them."

"That's too risky!" Shepard countered over the din of gunfire. "There has to be another way!"

The hiss of depressurization filled the air, and all heads turned to see the ramp of the Normandy slowly opening again. At the foot of the ramp stood Legion, it's heavy geth shields practically shining from the constant gunfire it endured. "Shepard-Commander!" it greeted as it tried to navigate through the onslaught.

"Jacob! Miranda!" Shepard called out from his position. No sooner had he said that, a barrier was erected around the geth to take the pressure from it. "Legion, get over here!"

Jacob and Miranda were visibly straining to keep the barrier up. Miranda was nearly exhausted from the day's events, barely able to speak as she focused hard. Jacob noticed this and yelled out. "For the love of-! Hurry up, damn it!"

Legion slid into cover, just in time as the barrier shattered, sidling next to Grunt and Shepard. "Shepard-Commander, Grunt." It greeted them with a nod to each as it held a sniper rifle in both hands. "Our apologies, EDI had to do a hard restart to prevent another viral upload; As an unintended effect, communications are jammed by the flux in data transmission. It is taking longer than estimated to reboot."

Grunt scoffed. "Yeah, sure. You still took your sweet time, you bucket of bolts."

"Again, our apologies."

"You didn't even bring any more guns like you said you would!" Grunt continued ranting.

Shepard had to get between the both of them. "Stand down, Grunt!" Shepard said, causing the krogan to grumble. He shook his head and turned to Legion. "What got into you, Legion? Your platform could have been critically damaged!" He looked at the ramp which was still being peppered by bullets. It was still too dangerous to retreat back into the Normandy; anybody who steps on that thing would have more holes than swiss cheese.

"Our crew was endangered." Legion began, "We saw a need to come out here."

Grunt butted in again at this point, still miffed about the incident. "Well here you are, other than nearly getting yourself scrapped, what do you have to contribute, eh?"

"We said that we needed more guns to counter the previous threat." Legion began, reaching for something on his back. "But then we came to the consensus that the solution didn't lie in quantity, but quality. So we brought this"

Shepard nodded in approval, and even Grunt couldn't suppress the grin creeping on his maw once Legion revealed what it had brought with him. In it's hands was the M-920 Cain, a handheld sub-thermonuclear weapon.

"This will work." Shepard said, taking the gun from Legion and checking its specs. It had enough power for a couple of shots, but with this gun, one shot was all you needed. "Yeah, this'll do the job just fine." He brought a hand to his comm and spoke, "Everybody, I have an idea. Does anybody copy? Over." What came back was static, the message having been not transmitted due to the jamming. "Shit, comms are still down. Looks like I'm going to have to resort to word of mouth." He said as he prepared to go from cover to cover.

"Shepard-Commander." Legion said before Shepard could do just that. "Our scans indicate that you are injured."

"I'm fine, Legion." Shepard dismissed, hefting the Cain and checking to see if he was clear. "There's plenty of time to rest when I'm dead."

"We would prefer that to be a long time from now." Legion replied. "The galaxy needs you."

"Noted." Shepard replied, peeking out of cover. "How long do we have before the reinstallation and EDI's reboot are going to be done?"

"7 minutes, 23 seconds and counting for the reinstallation of armor plating and 6 minutes, 43 seconds and counting for EDI's reboot."

"That's more than enough time to gather our people." Shepard concluded. "Now I'm going to need me some covering fire here, I'm going to coordinate my plan with the others."

Grunt got up from where he was sitting; his arm fully healed and grabbed an assault rifle. "We have your back, Shepard."

"Affirmative." Legion added.

"Lock and load, fellas!" Shepard said as he swung out of cover, finger on the trigger. "Wait for me, Tali." he whispered to himself as bullets started to whizz by his face.

* * *

><p>The translator was having a difficult time keeping up with the khellish curse words coming out of Tali'Zorah's mouth as she shot back blindly from cover, pinned down by over a couple dozen Eclipse mercs from her position. She was making good time on her way back to the Normandy when she ran into the problem at hand. They barely gave her enough time to dive into cover when the bullets started to fly. "This is Tali'Zorah! Can anybody read me? Come in!" Tali said over her comm as she tried to hail the Normandy. The comm blared static, the signal still being jammed. "Damn it, I need a hand here!"<p>

These mercs were no doubt splintered off from the bigger group that was assaulting the Normandy in order to try and deactivate the repair process. Too bad for them that even if they did get past her, they'd still have to deal with her encryptions and the lack of a working console in the work station she just came from. Though honestly, Tali'Zorah would prefer to enact the scenario wherein she gets out of this situation alive. Popping out of cover, she returned fire, only to be forced back into cover by the enemies' overwhelming response.

John was finally here; she knew it in her bones. Who else would make an entrance like that? She rationalized in her head as she reloaded her heavy pistol. He was here, just right over there past these idiots, and she'd be damned if she died here and now. Bringing up her omnitool, she generated her combat drone, Chiktikka vas Paus, and sent it to flank the enemy from behind. The little drone zoomed out of cover, weaving in and out of fire before diving into the heart of the enemy position, exploding in a pulse of electricity.

Taking the screams of pain as her cue, Tali rose out of cover and unloaded with her pistol, catching a couple of mercs unawares and dropping them to the ground. Advancing into a better position behind some crates up ahead while the rest of her assailants were regrouping, she flipped open her omnitool and brought up her AI hacking module. Transmitting the program to a couple of loki mechs, she had them turn on their owners, adding to the chaos she was producing in the enemy lines. Tali holstered her pistol and pulled out her shotgun, blasting away at the panicked troopers. One of her shots caught one trooper full in the chest, the shot gun blast causing blood to erupt in a spray of gore and sending what was left of the trooper flying. Another shot vaporized the top half of another troopers head, the body crumpling like a ragdoll as blood spurted like a fountain from the stump left behind.

Tali ducked down just in time as the rest of the Eclipse troopers regrouped, slagging the mechs and focusing on her position again. More mercs seemed to appear out of nowhere, bolstering the enemy's defenses and making her current kills moot. She could do this, she told herself as bullets whizzed by overhead from where she was ducking and reloading her weapon with what precious ammo she had left. Now was not the time to choke, she thought as she blindly returned fire to prevent herself from being completely pinned and flanked. She generated another drone body for Chiktikka, but this one was shot down just as it zoomed out of cover, exploding in a shower of sparks. "Damn it!" Tali cursed, covering her face as debris sprayed on her. She can't die yet, not here she thought as she returned fire. Bullets started ricocheting by her feet, and she knew her cover was soon going to be compromised by the enemy's flanking. "Normandy, this is Tali'Zorah!" she said urgently as she hugged what cover she had left. "Damn it, John! Whatever you have planned, hurry!"

* * *

><p>A mercs head exploded as Garrus just kept firing headshot after headshot, giving Joker and Kasumi enough leeway to get into cover beside him. They tried to get as far as they could towards the Normandy, but were finally detected and pinned down by the Eclipse. The amount of guns shooting at them was staggering. "They're everywhere!" He said as he reloaded his weapon, bullets raining on his cover. "If this keeps up they'll be all over us soon!"<p>

Kasumi set Joker down popping out of cover to unload with her locust. "Watch the flanks! The flanks!" She yelled out loud just as Garrus raised his gun, dealing with the problem. "Shit!" She cursed as she felt a bullet slam against her shields, ducking back into cover. The blow winded her, and Kasumi found herself momentarily disoriented.

"You okay?!" Garrus asked Kasumi as he moved back to her side, setting aside the widow and pulling out his vindicator assault rifle. It wasn't as powerful as the sniper rifle, but the faster rate of fire was his best choice right now against the advancing Eclipse. Two mercs immediately dropped dead after a couple of quick bursts to the chest. "Kasumi, talk to me!" he said with a tinge of panic as the woman remained silent.

"I'm fine!" She finally replied as she popped up to return fire, "My shields held up. Concussive force hurts like hell, though!" Kasumi said as she pulled the pin on a flash grenade. "Flash out!" she yelled as she lobbed the grenade blindly over cover.

Garrus ducked just in time as the air snapped in a brief sea of light, disorienting some of the Eclipse enough for them to return fire. "Let's see if they like it!" He said as he launched a concussive round from his gun, sending a bunched up group of mercs flying off their feet. "Nope, seems that they don't like it either!" He said as he continued firing. "Still with us, Joker?"

"I still am, unfortunately!" Joker said as he grabbed his head, trying not to go deaf from the gunfire. "Anybody have a spare gun! I'd really feel safer with a gun right about now!"

Kasumi handed him her pistol and a couple of clips, "Here, just keep our flank covered." She said quickly as he took them. "The kick isn't that strong so I doubt you'll break your arm just using it."

"Thanks!" Joker said, reaching out to fire blindly at their attackers' general direction and not risking getting out of cover.

Garrus growled as a round went past his shields, piercing into his armor. "Mother fucker!" He roared, taking down the culprit before swinging back into cover. He brought a hand to the hole in his armor and checked for blood, relief washing back over him when it came back dry. "They're really starting to get on my nerves!"

Kasumi scoffed, "Just starting to? You're a pretty patient guy!" she said, "They've been riding on my nerves this whole damn time."

This was bad, Garrus thought. Their ammo was dangerously low and they could only hold out for so long against so many. Something better happen soon or else the Eclipse would just swarm all over them. "Kasumi!" Garrus said urgently, making the woman look at him in surprise.

"Geez, Garrus." She said, putting her gun down. "What is it?"

"If this all goes downhill, use your cloak and just run!"

"What? No!" Kasumi said, taken aback by what Garrus said.

"You have to, Kasumi." Garrus urged. "Now might be your only chance."

"Are you crazy?! You can't ask me to do that! What about you and Joker?!"

"If everybody dies here then nothing would have mattered!" Garrus said, looking her in the eyes. "It's better that one of us gets away than all of us dying! We'll draw their fire long enough so that you can get out of here!"

"Damn it, I agree with Garrus!" Joker conceded reluctantly, not looking forward to death of any kind as he reloaded his pistol. "EDI can still fly the ship pretty well without me!"

"Shut up, Joker!" Kasumi snarled, nearly scaring the pilot out of cover before turning back to Garrus. "You listen to me you sanctimonious, self-righteous, white-knighting jerk! I don't know where you get off on telling me what to do, but I am staying, and I don't need your permission to do so!" Garrus opened his mouth to say something but Kasumi grabbed his mandibles shut. "No talking back! I'm talking right now, so listen to me you ugly bastard! Either we all get back or none of us do!" she said, glaring at him under the darkness of her hood. "I hate martyrs and I will not let you become one on my watch, got it!?"

"Yeah?" Garrus shoved her hand off of his face and turned to return fire at the Eclipse. "You want to stay here and die, then?! Is that what you want?!" He regretted raising his voice immediately after he did, but she was just so frustrating. Somehow, he knew that he'd happily give his life so that Kasumi wouldn't have to. He'd give it a thousand times over if need be. He just didn't want her to die here. Was it wrong that he didn't want her to die here? Why was the thought of her dying making him so very irritable? "By all means then, Kasumi, fine by me!" he said, knowing fully well that it wasn't fine by him at all.

"Like I give a damn what's fine by you or not, Garrus!" Kasumi grit her teeth, wondering how the bastard could dare turn his back on her. This man was really infuriating her, she decided. It was like he didn't care at all that she was basically willing to die alongside of him. She wasn't going to run out on them, on him, when they really needed her the most. Why did she care, anyway? It's not like she likes him or anything. "Jerk!" she spat out, full of spite for him, before turning around and taking her frustrations out on a trooper who was unfortunate enough to have peeked out of cover.

Joker groaned, finding himself in the middle of the awkward silence. He would have asked for somebody to shoot him now if there wasn't already a hundred people trying to do just that.

* * *

><p>Drawing out his sword, Feron shined with biotic energies as he rushed out to meet Melina head on. Sparks flew as his sword made contact with her talons, the unique composition of the blade withstanding the razor edge of Melina's claws and helping him deflect and parry otherwise fatal blows. The black ooze was still bleeding out from the many cuts he had managed to inflict on her, not even slowing her down a bit. But he found that his suspicions were correct: She wasn't healing her wounds at all. He backed away as she slashed at the ground he was just standing on, creating some space between them to catch his breath.<p>

He had inflicted damage on nearly all the fatal points he knew an asari possessed, but it seemed like this monster no longer shared anything similar to an asari's physiology. Or conventional logic, for that matter. Surgical precision was proving ineffective against it, so maybe a dose of brutality was what it took. Melina was crouching again, he observed, preparing for another charge. Sheathing the blade, he tossed it up into the air and took off his coat, catching the sword before it hit the ground. "Come on then, you ugly bitch, I'm on a tight schedule here." He called out to her, sword in one hand and coat in the other.

Melina lunged at him, that bone-chilling shriek piercing the air. But instead of dodging or parrying, Feron threw his coat at her, the garment obscuring him from her vision. Her claws shredded the coat easily, but it served its purpose to distract her wonderfully so. The sound of the sword being unsheathed was drowned out, rendered inaudible through her shrieking.

Ducking beneath the strikes and getting past Melina's defenses with blade spinning in one hand, Feron's sword flashed in the light as he slashed at her with wild abandon. His blade went through her mutated flesh with ease again and again and again, cutting wounds so fine that they barely even bled. Melina's shriek died in her throat as the sword passed through her neck several times over. Feron's free hand then glowed with energy as he delivered a biotic shockwave pointblank into Melina's gut. The force resonated within her before bursting forth in fury as Melina's body broke into pieces in a spray of black ooze and hacked body parts that splattered against the floor.

With a spin of his sword, Feron flicked the blade clean of the ooze and replaced it in it's sheathe. His breathing was heavy, and he just lost his favorite coat, but he was otherwise unharmed. "That was interesting." He concluded as he made his way back to the front lines, careful not to step on the black ooze that was now smeared all over the floor.

* * *

><p>Shepard coordinated with his men and the operatives, establishing two extraction teams and their exit strategy. The first team consisted of himself, Thane and three of the Shadow Broker operatives, a turian male, and 2 human females. The second team was composed of Miranda, Legion and 3 other operatives, all salarian males. The strategy was simple, once the signal was given, the two teams would zoom out with their respective trucks to extract the pinned down stragglers, while the rest would use the signal as an opportunity to retreat back into the Normandy.<p>

The signal?

That was Zaeed's job.

Using the M-920 Cain.

The veteran mercenary's craggy face nearly broke into a smile just by holding the heavy weapon. "I should have brought this girl along with me to the Afterlife." He said, leaning up against cover. "It could've made that little incident more interesting."

Jacob just looked at the older man, reloading his pistol. "I'm pretty sure we covered the 'explosion' quota pretty well without that thing's help."

"Always did like aiming for the surplus." Zaeed admitted, peeking over cover to look at the enemies. "Poor bastards don't even know what's coming to them."

"Alright, just remember to stick to the plan."

"I know what I'm damn well doing, Taylor." Zaeed said, swinging out of cover, the Cain charging in his hands. "Fire in the hole, gentlemen."

"Fire in the hole!" Jacob shouted out for all the operatives to hear, giving them time to take cover before the flash in the distance could blind them.

There was silence at first before the very air crackled in fury. The ground in the distance where several dozen of the Eclipse stood bloomed in white hot light, immolating any and all within it's proximity and instantly reducing them to ash. Those unlucky enough to be too far from the initial blast zone to suffer instant death were subjected instead to painful ones as they slowly burned from the heat.

"Burn you bastards." Zaeed said as the small mushroom cloud bloomed in the distance, peppered with the screaming of it's victims. As he said that, two of the trucks zoomed off in opposite directions to extract Tali and the others. He set aside the cain and talked to an operative beside him. "Alright, tell your people to get the wounded inside the Normandy! The rest will stay here and provide cover fire until Shepard comes back, copy?"

"Copy that." The operative nodded and set about disseminating the instructions to the others.

Jacob let out a whistle, the massive explosion in the distance giving them some breathing room as the Eclipse reeled from the blow. He turned his head and idly watched the truck carrying Miranda zoom away to where Garrus and the others were reportedly situated. "Hey, Zaeed." He said, catching the attention of the older man who was busy setting up his revenant again.

"Yeah, Taylor?"

"I've made up my mind." He said, nodding his head. "I don't want to grow old with regrets."

"Stop telling me all about it and start doing something about it then, Taylor." Zaeed said as he planted the revenant back on top of his cover. "Girls like that one aren't just born every day, you know? Literally."

"Copy that." Jacob replied as he popped the heat sink on his pistol and reloaded it. Yeah, he thought, he didn't want to grow old with regrets. After everything that happened tonight, he was reminded of how fleeting life really was to waste it wondering on what-if's. It was time to man up and put all of his chips down on the table. The shooting slowly started to pick up the intensity again as the Eclipse got over the devastating attack. "Here they come!"

"Right, so get your head out of the damn clouds and open fire!" Zaeed barked at him, pulling the trigger on his revenant and unleashing a torrent of death towards the Eclipse.


	26. The Break Out Part 3

A/N: Well, this should have been up sooner, but then I had to save the world of Pandora.

Chapter 25: The Break Out Part 3

* * *

><p>The Omega Blue Suns HQ…<p>

The commanders have come to heel, but The Patriarch knew there was still dissent in the ranks. He heard the talk and whispers of the troopers. Gossip about how the battles he sent them on were not decisive strikes against the strongholds of Aria's loyalist forces. Talk of how he was prolonging the conflict needlessly, regardless that it's roughly been just 12 hours from the incident at the Afterlife. Even the Illussive Man must think so, because he was just summoned into the communication terminal to speak with him.

Summoned.

Of all the nerve.

The human thought that just because he paid him meant that The Patriarch was his pet. The human had gall, he'd give him that. But that was all he was giving him, because he'd rather take more from this insolent upstart. He walked down the hall and stopped in front of the door to the communications office. Taking a deep breath, he reminded himself of what was important. The Illusive Man was a mere dog, barking at him. No sense getting upset over it, not now when he was so close to his true objective. The door opened, and he was saluted by techs on their workstations.

"Patriarch, sir? Good timing, I was just about to send somebody to find you." the tech in charge said, gesturing towards a large comm terminal. "There is a priority transmission for you on the line, sir."

"Thank you, sergeant." The Patriarch said briskly, walking past the man. "Leave us."

The communications officer hesitated for a moment, before nodding his assent and signaling his men to leave. "Just activate the terminal when you are ready, sir."

The Patriarch waited for the door to close before approaching the communications terminal. With a wave of his hand, a large holovid screen flickered into life, depicting a smoking man sitting in a dark room, his silhouette highlighted with blue light from a star outside a large window.

"Patriarch." The Illusive man greeted, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"Illusive man." The Patriarch replied, not even bothering to hide the disdain in his voice.

If the Illusive man noticed, he made no comment about it as he went right down to business. "My sources tell me that you have yet to seize total control of Omega." He said, blue eyes glowing in the dark. The Illusive man's tone was not of anger, but of a parent scolding a misbehaving child for some misdeed. To be spoken to in such a patronizing manner got underneath the Patriarch's scales, and the krogan merely clenched his fists as he listened. "The stations main control hub, the shipyards, the life support system and the power plants. You guaranteed me that if I gave you enough resources you could take control of them within the day, garnering complete control of Omega in the process. But instead of committing the Blue Suns to those aforementioned places, you have them terrorizing the residential and commercial districts, weeding out Aria's men." He took another drag of his cigarette, the noxious smoke swirling around him. "Do I have to remind you of our agreement?"

The Patriarch had to swallow the rage building up in his throat. "My apologies. I would rather we scout out any pocket of resistance now while they are distraught and caught with their pants down rather than face an organized army to oppose… you." He said, the last word leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "Omega will be under our control, I guarantee that. It will just take some time to-."

"Time is not a luxury I have." The Illusive man interjected, tapping the ash from his cigarette into an ash tray on a small table next to him. "My people have already begun the salvage of what's left of the Collector base past the Omega Relay. To maximize efficiency, I require a halfway point to and from the relay. The sooner we've established control of Omega, the better." Taking another deep drag of the cigarette, he looked over the Patriarch appraisingly. "Because Aria was deemed too uncooperative, I chose you to do this in Cerberus' stead because you are known to the people of Omega. An outside power would have been met with resistance, but the previous ruling warlord? It would be just business as usual. But make no mistake; you are a puppet and nothing more. I gave you the resources to take back what was once yours, to let you relive your glory years. In return, I expect your full cooperation regarding Cerberus matters. Remember this, the Blue Suns, the Eclipse, all those mercs you hired with my money; they are only loyal to their next pay-check." The illusive man took a last drag on the burnt out cigarette, before smashing the embers in the ashtray. "I've given you a lot, but I can easily take those gifts away. Understood?"

The Patriarch clenched his fists, trying to keep himself from visibly shaking in rage. "I… Understand." He replied, his voice calm and collected despite the fire in his eyes.

"Do you?" The Illusive man asked, hand reaching in his jacket for another cigarette. "I know you are a capable warlord, past few centuries notwithstanding." He paused, letting the barbed comment sink in. "But I find my trust in you is wavering." He held a cigarette in one hand and a simple lighter in another. "You have 72 hours." He said with finality, lighting the cigarette and taking a drag to help it burn. "Should the station have not been brought to heel by then, I will have no choice but to work out a new arrangement with Commander Vido Santiago, one where you will have no part in. Do I make myself clear?"

"Crystal." The Patriarch said through grit teeth.

"Excellent." The Illusive man replied. "There is one more thing I want to discuss with you: Shepard."

The Patriarch felt his fists tighten just at the mention of the name. He was looking forward to killing the man.

"My reports say that the Blue Suns encountered him in the Afterlife while attempting to neutralize Aria. Both have been reported to have survived the assault." He said, taking a deep drag of his cigarette. "Aria's death is inconsequential in the long run, but I am heavily invested in Shepard's. It does not take precedence over Omega, but do whatever it takes. My only request is that you leave me a body to collect."

An air of silence hung around them for a few moments as both stared each other down.

"Is that all?" The Patriarch finally said with an air of impatience in his voice.

The Illusive man looked at the krogan impassively, smoke trailing in the air around him. "That is all. Have a good day, Patriarch." And with that, the transmission was cut off, leaving the Patriarch standing alone in front of the terminal.

The Patriarch hated that man, but they needed him, for now. It wasn't the things that he had said to him that made him fume exactly, but it was how he spoke to him that he hated the most. Truth be told, he did not care one bit about ruling this station, especially if it would be all just an illusion. He would be lying if he did not take some measure of satisfaction from bringing down Aria and her forces. But all in all, control of Omega ultimately meant little to him. All of this chaos and blood shed was just a smoke screen, and an offering.

The Patriarch could feel it, like an invisible force was tugging him towards a vague direction. He could feel it start in his very bones, an electric sensation that seemed to course through his veins and bleed out of his skin. Somewhere deep within the heart of Omega lay his prize, his destiny. War had engulfed the station, and the despair of the dying made the pulling of the force stronger. But being on Omega, a station already rift with pain and suffering, he needed to create despair of the likes which the station hasn't felt before. Only then will the way truly be clear for him to follow.

He had led a life of barbarism and cruelty, but this was to be his absolution. No, not just his, he reminded himself. This was the absolution of every living thing in the galaxy. Somewhere on this station was the beginning of the one true destiny of the galaxy. It was funny how something so great lay hidden under his nose for centuries.

His musings were interrupted by the now familiar ringing in his head. "Viktor." He greeted the alien presence in his mind before it could speak.

"Brother!" The voice of Dr. Zsasz greeted jovially back in his head. "I trust The Illusive man is displeased?"

"Hah! How he feels is of no importance." The Patriarch scoffed. "But he did give me an ultimatum."

"So I've heard... 72 hours, eh?" Zsasz replied with amusement. "We must find it before the next 72 hours, then."

"It matters not. Your associates do not scare me, brother." The krogan warlord said, beating a fist to his chest. "Let them come. The resulting slaughter will make our prayers to the Father louder."

"Ah, but Cerberus does pose a risk to us, dear brother." Zsasz said, a rare tinge of seriousness in his voice. "If they detect the presence of our Father in Omega, they will become a bothersome obstacle to overcome. Can you imagine the Father's power abused by such a selfish megalomaniac like the Illusive man? I will not stand for it!"

"Neither would I." The Patriarch agreed. "Do not fret yourself, Viktor. With things the way they are now, I would have found it long before 72 hours have passed."

The reply seemed to have calmed Zsasz down as the tension disappeared from his voice. "Yes, I look forward to the discovery." Zsasz said. "And what about Shepard?"

"What _about_ Shepard?" The Patriarch said, amused by the question. "Our plans have already been set into motion. I will kill him, brother. He will not obstruct Father's will."

"See to it that he doesn't!" Zsasz snapped. "Do not make the mistake of underestimating the man, Patriarch. He is the only one who can possibly stop us now."

"I said I would kill him, brother." Patriarch replied with a tone of finality. "That should be enough to quell your doubts."

"Very well…" Zsasz conceded, knowing it was pointless to push the issue. "How is Tarrana faring?" he asked.

"Like a loose cannon; Head strong and foolish." The Patriarch replied, sneering. "I cannot deny her devotion to the Father, but she acts like a spoiled child. What Father saw in her to see her fit for our family, I may never comprehend. She knows of our purpose, but still she clings to worldly possessions!"

"The Normandy?"

"Yes, that blasted ship… What good will it be for what is to come?"

"She always did have a fascination for it when she saw the Normandy's schematics…" Zsasz said, letting nostalgia take him. "Tarrana has always had her own way of interpreting the will of the Father." He continued. "Nevertheless, we are family, and she is one of our youngest. Watch over her, and make sure she does not go astray."

"Of course... Speaking of which, how is our youngest sibling?"

"Haha! The lad should be here any moment!" Zsasz said, his voice cheery at the mention of Gemini. "The last and greatest of us is about to complete our family. We are closer to our goal, Patriarch. I can see it. No, no, I can taste it! It tastes of cream and blood… But enough of my ramblings, we all have our parts to play. Good luck, brother."

"And to you as well, Viktor." The Patriarch said. "In the name of the Father."

"In the name of the Father!" Zsasz replied with fervor.

The ringing in his head ceased, and the Patriarch knew the intrusion in his mind was gone. Zsasz was right; he still had a part to play in this, and a sword now hung over his head. 72 hours did not seem like much time, but he was close, and indeed, he could taste it. Not to say that it made the task at hand simple. With so much going against him, he needed some kind of edge. A smile formed on his craggy lips as an idea came into his mind. Walking out of the room, he gestured to the techs loitering in the hall that he was done. The techs saluted him and filed back inside to resume their responsibilities.

The Patriarch walked down the hall, towards the medical bay. He had known it was the Blue Sun commanders who were filing complaints against him directly to the Illusive Man. They may be less vocal, but their resistance to his command was well and alive. Right now, he needed a truly loyal underling in the Blue Suns to quash dissent, and if he could not find one, he would make one.

* * *

><p>Tarrana covered her face as the heat washed over the Eclipse, witnessing dozens of her troopers practically being vaporized in the blast zone before the flash blinded her. No cover could defend against such an attack.<p>

The concussive force blew back the troopers all around her, but she stood immovable against it as her biotics planted her firmly into the ground, a defiant rock against the invisible wave of pressure. "Cute…" She whispered as her vision started to come back to her.

The first thing she saw was her men starting to back away in retreat. To say that this didn't sit well with her was an utmost understatement. "No. No. No." She started to chant, her face contorting into a mask of rage as she looked around her. "Listen to me, my soldiers!" She announced, stepping towards the dying flames of ground zero. "My orders still stand... Run away if you wish. You will not be stopped from doing so by me or anybody else." She said with a dismissive flourish of her hand. "But be warned, darlings… never stop running. Run away as far and as fast as you can…" she continued, her voice dropping into a dark and sinister tone. "Run away because I will find each and every single one of you deserting cowards and kill you myself. _Slowly. Painfully_." The last two words she said deliberately, as if to sear the image of her doing so into their mind's eye. When she spoke again, gone was the dark sinister tone, replaced by her usual musical, sing-song voice. "Now make your choice, darlings. I am confident all of you will make the right one, yes?"

The troopers looked at each other; torn between their fears of probable death against the forces of the Normandy should they push forward or certain death at the hands of Tarrana should they run away. Even the asari troopers seemed hesitant at first, but they were still the first to follow after their leader through the ashen ground of the blast zone. The rest seemed to just gulp and shrug in unison as they followed suit as well.

How they felt wasn't any of Tarrana's concern. All that mattered to her, as her high heeled boots trampled atop the people shaped ashes on the ground, was her acquisition of the Normandy. She still had a good number of soldiers left, and enough mechs to compensate for the sudden lack of manpower. She'll worry about increasing the ranks later if she needs to, not that it would matter in the long run. She giggled to herself at the thought; No, it really wouldn't, but the trip was always more pleasurable than the destination.

She watched as the two trucks zipped off in opposite directions, her brow slightly rising in mild amusement. She had heard the reports of her men encountering isolated members of the Normandy's crew around the shipyard. It would seem that they used the devastation of the cain as a distraction to mount some kind of rescue. How noble, she thought, a coy smile playing on her lips. "Kerys, Vivian." She called out, a few moments later two of her asari lieutenants bowed before her.

"My lady?" They said in unison, their voices expectant.

"Darlings, those two trucks hovering around bother me." She began, pouting her purple painted lips. "It would seem they are trying to rescue their friends. Deal with it for me, yes?"

"Yes, my lady." The pair said in unison, seemingly having decided who should go after which truck silently as they strode off in opposite directions.

"Make me proud, girls." Tarrana called out as they took their soldiers and headed out. She needed to rebuild her Luna Eclipse after this debacle, and both those two girls were prime candidates for ascension. She licked her lips, looking forward to the process. Her smile lingered as she went back to the business at hand.

"Excuse me, my lady?" a voice behind her suddenly asked.

Tarrana turned to see Claire, one of her human lieutenants. The poor girl practically grew a shade lighter when she laid her eyes on her, involuntarily gulping, realizing she had garnered Tarrana's full attention. She knew her non-asari lieutenants were indeed eager to get back on her good side, distancing themselves from Filon's foiled scheme. It was amusing that the usually timid Claire was the first to approach her. "Yes, my dear?"

"The teams you sent to deactivate the repair process have been setback." Claire began, slowly finding her footing as she spoke, gaining more confidence. "My heavy division is ready to destroy the machinery should we need to resort to that."

"My, my, how eager…" Tarrana replied, putting a finger to her lip as if considering the thought. "That will not be necessary. Let the repairs finish, unless of course you are offering to finish it by hand when we take control of the Normandy? Now off with you."

"I, ah- Forgive me for talking out of place my lady." Claire replied, bowing as she stepped back.

"So long as you know." Tarrana dismissed. They'll all be eager to please her now, she thought. As they should be. "Alright then, as for the rest of you… forward!"

It didn't take long for the shooting to pick up it's pace. As the bullets began to fly, Tarrana twirled in her step like a graceful ballerina, bullets whizzing past by her as she dipped into cover, her troopers following suit in a simpler fashion fit for commoners such as them. She pulled out her weapon of choice, a prototype assault rifle of her own design she had dubbed the Last Kiss. It was beautiful and devastating weapon, a theme most asari-made weapons shared, and one that could be compared to it's wielder. It was light enough with enough stability to allow it's usage with one hand, and fired semi-automatic bullets laced with a slow acting poison of her own design as well. It was a weapon that let its victims suffer a long and painful death should the bullet wound not kill them outright. With Tarrana's aim and skill however, the bullet wound usually did kill her victims outright, unless of course she wanted them to suffer first.

With a sickeningly sadistic smile, she swung out of cover and unloaded at the defenders of the Normandy. Several of the white armored troops in the distance fell over dead before she had to go back into cover, bullets just barely missing her head. She giggled as she popped the heat sink on the gun. "My, my, it's been far too long since I was on the front lines of a good fight!" Tarrana announced as if commenting on the sweetness of a cake. "It makes my toes curl!" She cooed, popping out of cover again to return fire. "They do not have enough guns to aim at all of us all at once! Advance in units and keep to cover! I want the mechs front and center; we'll use them as shields for our advance!" She yelled out, her voice's volume amplified by her suit as she directed troop movements the old fashioned way seeing as how the comms were still down. "Turner, Alina, Maron, take their right flank and catch them in the crossfire! Claire, Gillian, Dooka, your squads are to remain stationary and provide cover fire for the rest of us! As for the rest of you, follow my lead! Go!"

"Yes, my lady!" The Eclipse troopers said in unison as they scrambled to their positions, closing in on the Normandy, guns blazing in their wake.

* * *

><p>Tali was curled up underneath cover as bullets ricocheted against it, all but completely pinned downed against the Eclipse. If there ever was a worst case scenario, this was it. She was outnumbered, out gunned and outflanked. She chanced a blind shot every now and then, but the act seemed futile. The only thing that kept her in the fight was the multiple drones she kept generating, severely depleting her omnitool's energy. They would cause a few moments of distraction before succumbing to the sheer amount of gunfire directed at them.<p>

Even if she refused to acknowledge it, something in the back of her head knew that she was not coming out of this alive short of divine intervention. The only thing keeping her hope alive was him. She couldn't die, not until she spoke to him again. She had just realized new insights about their relationship, about how foolish she was and about how much he really meant to her.

She hugged her shotgun close to her, just waiting for one of the Eclipse troopers to come into view. She knew some basic CQC, undergoing military training prior to her pilgrimage, but she knew the odds that were stacked against her made that option more than unrealistic. That doesn't mean that she wouldn't give them hell for their efforts though.

She was trying to control her breathing, psyching herself up, when she heard the whining of a hover engine coming in from the distance, the sound of its approach rising above the barking of gunfire. It couldn't be, could it? She smiled to herself as bullets ricocheted all around her, the dying embers of hope now a roaring flame inside of her. She knew John would come for her.

* * *

><p>Shepard opened the back of the truck as he surveyed the ongoing firefight beneath him. More than two dozen Eclipse troopers had Tali pinned behind cover. Not far from them, another squad of Eclipse, comprised entirely of asari, was hurrying to join the fray. Something coursed through his veins as he felt rage welling up inside of him. Despite the blood loss that made his vision a bit blurry, despite being bruised and battered to within an inch of his life, despite the literal straps of bandages holding him together in one piece, nothing could get adrenaline pumping more than seeing the woman you love in mortal danger. "Take us in low, but be careful! There's too much firepower down there for a safe landing!" He said to the pilot, pulling out his shotgun and cocking it. "Thane, you guys provide me some cover fire! I'll go in and distract them while you extract Tali!" He continued, addressing the drell assassin and the two female shadow broker operatives with them.<p>

Thane pulled the slide on his assault rifle and nodded, as did the operatives beside him. "We have your back, Shepard." He replied, before puzzlement befell him. "Wait, what do you mean by '_go in and_ _distract them'_?"

"I meant exactly what I said." Shepard replied as he fixed a bayonet onto his shotgun. The truck pulled in low, swooping over the Eclipse and hitting at least a couple of them who were standing upright in it's way. Without another word, Shepard leapt outside, flying towards a group of mercs with wild abandon.

Thane could only stand there and stare at the spot Shepard was just standing on moments ago, half tempted to face palm as he watched the commander jump out of a speeding truck onto a group of enemies. One of the women next to him was rendered dumbstruck and speechless, her jaw slacked open; the other one raised a hand, asking a question despite the disbelief clouding her head.

"Did he just-?"

"Yes, ma'am… Yes, he did." Thane replied as he got back to his senses and took aim. "He just jumped out of a speeding truck directly onto hostile forces." He sighed as he stepped up to the edge. "I wish I could say this was the first time he has done so."

"But that's-!"

"You'll get used to it." He interjected, opening fire down onto the Eclipse below. "Now give the man some cover fire before the Eclipse swarms him."

"Uh, right. Right!" she replied, nudging her companion who was still staring. The two women snapped out of their reverie and nodded to each other, before stepping up beside Thane and opening fire as well.

* * *

><p>Shepard momentarily flew like a human rocket, tucking in on himself, before tackling a group of unlucky troopers to cushion his landing. The crash winded him, and Shepard's body sung from the pain of the impact. It was a good thing that he was well past the point of shutting down from pain as adrenaline flooded his system, making a strangely familiar buzz emanate from his fingertips. It wasn't the neatest of landings, but he was still conscious, and he could still feel both of his legs, which was admittedly a pretty good start to another idiotic plan. Though if he was crippled, that wouldn't matter so much so long as he could still hold a gun. Only one thing was on his mind as he lied there on top of several unconscious troopers, trying to get back up on his feet: Saving Tali.<p>

"What the hell?!" An Eclipse trooper exclaimed as Shepard narrowly missed him and crashed into his comrades. Grabbing another trooper, both of them went to investigate the groaning pile of bodies. "Who the fuck are you?!" He yelled as the truck did another sweep overhead, both troopers pressing their guns into Shepard's back as the latter was catching his breath. "Hey, are you still alive?!"

Shepard sighed in amusement as he felt the gun barrels on his back. The grunts should've kept their distance, not that he was complaining or anything. He suddenly rolled onto his back and knocked the gun barrels out of his face with his own gun, then jammed his bayonet upwards into the face of the yelling trooper. The blade went through the trooper's visor and buried itself deep through his right eye. With a twist of the gun, the man went limp. Shepard kicked the corpse off of his blade and unloaded his shotgun into the chest of the other trooper who was about to pounce on him, making the trooper's chest explode in a shower of red that splattered all over Shepard's white armor. Getting up, he spun around; gun at the ready, only to find out that the rest of the Eclipse still hadn't noticed his presence yet, the noise of his scuffle hidden by the gunfire. They were focusing their attention instead on the truck up above and on Tali. He could fix that, he thought to himself as he grabbed a grenade and pulled the pin.

Dropping the grenade onto the groaning pile of troopers he had landed on, Shepard leapt over cover and charged towards another unit of mercenaries. The grenade he left behind exploded, sending gore and debris up into the air behind him as he elbowed another hapless trooper in the neck, eliciting a sick crunch of bone snapping, and hacked another one wide open with a swing of his bayonet, the blade cleaving through armor like a hot knife through butter. The explosion caught the rest of the troopers by surprise as they turned to see Shepard, soaked in blood, cocking his shotgun and blasting another trooper in point-blank range as bloody body parts and scrap rained all around him.

For a moment, everyone seemed to just stare at him, the gunfire going silent. Shepard simply stared back, white armor glistening crimson with the blood of the dead, smoking shot gun in hand. "Hey." He said casually, popping the gun's heat sink and loading a fresh clip.

"Get him!" a salarian sergeant yelled, seemingly snapping the other mercs back to their senses.

Shepard slid into cover as over half of the Eclipse troopers turned their weapons in his direction, the mercs intent on payback for the corpses that he had left in his wake. Setting aside his shotgun, Shepard pulled out his assault rifle and set it on disruptor rounds. Rising out of cover and unloading quick bursts of fire to avoid being bogged down, Shepard flung another grenade into the Eclipse's ranks, sending a couple of hapless troopers flying. He wanted to grab their attention, to give them a different target and relieve the pressure off of Tali. So far so good, he guessed, as bullets whizzed past his head.

His omnitool came to life on his arm, and EDI's avatar projected itself to him. "Attention, communications are now back online." The AI announced. "I apologize for the inconvenience."

"EDI!" Shepard said in surprise as he reloaded his gun. "No harm, no foul. How's the Normandy?"

"All our systems are secure from further hacking attempts, and repairs will be complete in 8 minutes, 23 seconds and counting, Shepard."

"Alright, prep all hands for immediate lift-off! We'll be back before then!" Shepard said over the raging gunfire around him. He rose out of cover and fired back, dropping another trooper to the ground. "Glad to have you back EDI."

"Likewise, Shepard. Go get her."

"Copy that." He replied. Just as he dropped the comm link with EDI, his Omnitool beeped again with another incoming transmission. It was from Tali. The relief that flooded him was indescribable. So much so that he could only stare at his omnitool for a moment before snapping out of his trance. "Shepard, here." He said almost too eagerly as he answered the transmission.

"Shepard, please tell me I didn't just see what I think I just saw." Tali said exasperatedly over the comm as she appeared on the holo projector, no doubt with a disapproving glare underneath her tinted visor. "Just please… Ugh…"

Even under these circumstances, he could listen to Tali's voice for hours. That accent she had made it almost musical, no matter what emotions were toned with it. "Why? What did you see?" Shepard asked, knowing full well what she saw.

"Nothing… Just a blundering idiot flying out of a speeding truck right onto the Eclipse!" Tali snapped. She took a deep breath before speaking again in her usual calm tone. "Please tell me that wasn't you, John. Because that is exactly the kind of idiotic thing that you would do."

"Okay, then I won't tell you it was me." Shepard said, thankful for the helmet he was wearing that hid the smirk that refused to leave his face.

Tali sighed. "You're very pleased with yourself, aren't you?"

"It's good to hear your voice, again. It felt like it's been forever since I last did." He replied as thermal rounds glanced at his shield, but not enough to break them. He ducked back down into cover to let it recharge. "I'm glad you're alright, Tali."

"Don't change the subject, you bosh'tet!" She snapped again, slightly flustered by the unexpected compliment. "But… It is good to know you are alright, too." She conceded. "Even if you did make me wait." Tali said, her tone making her sound like she was pouting. "What took you so long?"

"Things kind of got out of hand in the Afterlife, I'll explain later." Shepard explained as he slammed another fresh clip into his gun, taking a peek above his cover. "I'll make it up to you." He promised, ducking as bullets ricocheted over head..

"You damn well better make it up to me." She said.

"I will... For everything." He said while rising out of cover and sending a bullet right through the throat of an unfortunate trooper.

"Promises, promises." Tali scoffed. "Then don't die on me now, human. I still have my uses for you."

"Dying?" Shepard snickered as he ducked for cover. "The thought never crossed my mind."

"And therein lies the problem." Tali said flatly. "I swear, you're a few notches above being a death-seeker."

"Let me rephrase that." Shepard quickly added. "I can't die yet. I still want to be with you."

"Smooth, Shepard." Tali said, and Shepard could just make the silhouette of an eyebrow rising underneath her visor. "You're one hell of an operator; Garrus should take notes."

"Is it working?" Shepard asked.

Tali sighed as she slapped a palm on her visor. "We'll talk more about the repercussions of your actions later, you insufferable man."

"I'm looking forward to it." Shepard said with a grin, watching Tali shake her head with amusement. "Get ready, the moment we get an opening, the truck's coming down for extraction."

* * *

><p>Tali'Zorah was still shaking her head. But despite her annoyance and the thundering gunfire all around her, she could not deny the butterflies floating around in her stomach. He came for her, she said to herself, fighting off the urge to squeal like a pre-teen school girl. He really came for her. She really shouldn't be surprised after he had come to rescue her from the hands of the geth not too long ago. But still it felt… nice?<p>

That man was an idiot.

But he was _her_ idiot.

And by the ancestors she wanted to see him in person again after talking to him like that. But whether it was to kiss him or kill him, she'd decide later.

Whatever Shepard was doing, the Eclipse seemed more interested in him now than they were in her. With their attackers' fire divided, she could now actually peek out of cover long enough without the fear of getting shredded to pieces. It was almost funny how things seemed to progress. One minute she was being overwhelmed and outnumbered, but the moment Shepard arrived, the tide began turning increasingly into their favor. She had to admit that even the simplistic, straight forward methods of the marines were sometimes good enough for the job. Distracted or not, her position was still compromised by the Eclipse, and she had to move out fast. "Moving into cover!" She said, cocking her shotgun.

"Copy that! Providing cover fire!" Shepard's voice said on the omnitool.

Tali jumped out of cover and advanced onto a more secure position behind some crates up ahead. Tali unloaded on her attackers as she ran, bullets trailing behind her every step as she exchanged fire with the Eclipse. She slid behind the crates, her shields shimmering from shots that had tagged her. Her shields held and she was otherwise okay, but the concussive force of the shots still stung and winded her. She clutched her aching side for a moment before shaking it off. Pain was fleeting, but death was permanent.

"You alright?" Shepard asked over the comm.

"Been better, thanks." She ran her hand over her omnitool to activate her drone module and synthesized another body for Chiktikka. "Sending out a drone."

"They're all bunched up and just begging to get tazed." Shepard's voice said on her omnitool

"Good, let's indulge them." She replied as Chiktikka erupted from Tali's palm, flying straight towards the enemy.

The drone weaved in and out of fire, quickly finding it's way among the Eclipse and sending out a quick pulse of electricity, shocking several nearby troopers and fizzling their shields. She advanced out of cover again, watching as Shepard was finishing off the unshielded troopers that Chiktikka had just attacked. She dove behind another pile of crates as a third voice joined their comm.

"Shepard, Tali." Thane began urgently. "We need to get you out of here now. Another Eclipse squadron is quickly approaching!"

"Copy that, Thane." Tali replied, "I'm advancing towards Shepard as fast as I can."

"Make it quick, we're barely holding them back."

* * *

><p>Shepard peered across the side of his cover to see that another group of Eclipse was indeed quickly advancing on them. He was only able to do this well against this many with the element of surprise. Engaging them in combat was not an option. "Damn it, there's no time! I'll split you the distance and meet you at the middle, Tali." He said over the comm as he reloaded his rifle.<p>

"Are you crazy? At the angle you'll be running from, it would be harder to get into cover! Just wait for me!"

"We don't have a choice!" He urged, "Quickly, before they regroup!"

"Don't die, John." She pleaded.

"I love you." Shepard said, just before running out of cover and firing wildly with his assault rifle at the Eclipse's general direction. Bullets were soon whizzing around him, splattering off of his shields as he bolted towards the extraction point. He didn't even bother sliding in behind cover so much as vaulting over them, trying to cover as much ground as possible. His rifle clicked empty, and he tossed it aside as dead weight, pulling out his pistol and firing blindly behind him instead.

He saw the truck land up ahead, Tali already there as his antics made the Eclipse focus on him instead. Thane and the Shadow Broker operatives had disembarked, giving him some cover fire as he ran the length of the home stretch. Several more yards off and his shields shattered from the constant fire, then he immediately felt the next shot penetrate his light armor, the bullet biting into his shoulder, just in time as he leapt over cover, more bullets flying past his vulnerable form and ducking into a roll safely behind it. Tali helped him back up to his feet as they made their way inside the back of the truck.

Thane and the other quickly got back in behind them, guns blasting away at the advancing Eclipse. "We have them! Go! Go!" he told the pilot. The truck quickly rose into the air and zoomed pass the Eclipse below, bullets peppering off of it's armor.

Meanwhile, Tali was tending to Shepard. "Keelah, John." She said as she laid Shepard down against the wall and took into account his battered armor, inspecting him for any injuries. "You've been hit!" she said as she found the hole on his shoulder guard.

"It's just a graze." He said as he took off his helmet, revealing his bruised face.

"What happened to your face?!" Tali said in alarm as she cupped one of his cheeks, looking over the damage.

"I hope this isn't a deal breaker in our relationship." Shepard said with a tired smirk. The remark earned him a quick slap on the less bruised side of his face. "Ow." He said, feeling his whole body hurt from the strike.

"You…! You…! You idiotic bosh'tet!" Tali fumed as she fumbled for some medigel in her omnitool and applied it onto Shepard's shoulder. "Don't joke about this! You almost got yourself killed out there! It's the same thing with you, over and over and over again!"

"Tali, I-" Shepard began to say, before getting cut off.

"You what, John?" She demanded, letting the flood gate loose of all the pent up emotions that had been growing inside of her. "You said you wanted to grow old with me? Well what about what I want, huh? I want to grow old with you, too. But you just keep on… ARRRGH!" She growled, clutching the sides of her helmet as if to massage her temples through it. When she spoke again, her voice was much calmer. "I understand why you do all these things, Shepard. All the death defying feats of bravery, all the selfless heroics, all the sacrifices you've made; you do it all for the greater good. This galaxy needed a savior, and for some reason, it was you who was chosen to answer the call. I'm glad it was, because that's how I met you." She paused for a while, just looking into his eyes. "So please, I know I can't ask you to stop being the hero, but let me help you so we can carry the weight of the galaxy together."

"Tali…" Shepard said, reaching out to hold her hand.

"One more thing!" She snapped, causing Shepard to flinch. "I love you too, you insufferable bastard." Before Shepard could say anything else, the hiss of depressurization filled the air as Tali pulled off her visor, closing the gap between them and planting her lips fully on his.

Shepard was shocked at first, but he eased himself as he got lost in the softness of her lips, the taste of her tongue and the gentle nipping of her teeth. Grabbing the back of her head, Shepard pulled her in to a deeper kiss, causing Tali to squeak in surprise as he responded to her affection in kind. The fight was far from over, but they could have this one moment just for them.


	27. The Break Out, Conclusion

Chapter 26: The Break Out; Conclusion

* * *

><p>Somewhere in space…<p>

_Wretched, pitiful thing…_

The voices.

_You dare hinder us?_

The voices were getting louder!

_Atone for your sins!_

He pleaded for them to stop, but each time he did so, they only seemed to get louder, delighting in their torment of him.

The crackle of gun fire was gradually replaced by screams of agony as Gemini violently slaughtered all those who stood in his way. The Cerberus troopers were formidable soldiers, but they were no match for the amnesiac psychopath who had just butchered most of the people in the secret facility. The scent of death lingered in the air, a testament to the mangled Cerberus corpses strewn about all over the station from his rampage.

_Kill them all_, the voices in his head whispered.

_KILL…_

_THEM…  
><em>

_ALL…_

Underneath the psychotic grin etched on Gemini's face, a deep seething madness was bubbling out into the surface. He hated Cerberus; that much he knew for sure as he wrested a shotgun from one of his assailants and blasted the top half of his face into a fine red mist. But why did he hate them so much? Honestly, he didn't have a clue, but he was starting not to care. It was a sickening thought to entertain, but Gemini couldn't deny how good it felt when his victims screamed, begging for their lives like helpless children. Death was his drug, and he enjoyed dealing it out and reveling in its high. This one did not have time to scream, and he loved making them scream. Pity, he thought as the half-headless corpse fell limp on the ground.

Screams were good.

The screams drowned out the voices in Gemini's head.

Was he crazy? No, not crazy, not yet. It's just… Just the voices telling him what to do. The damned voices were the one's making him do this. He… Liked doing the things the voices told him to do, he conceded. He just didn't necessarily want to do them; so much as he needed to do them. It was like being sealed in a glass room, watching yourself do these things that you did helplessly, banging against the wall, yelling at yourself to stop.

_Kill for us…_

_Kill them all…_

_None of you are worthy…_

_None of you ever were…_

_You all deserve to die…_

These voices were not like the old man's who had intruded into his mind earlier. They were subtle, sinister whispers that came from speakers that seemed to be always standing just outside his field of vision. They spoke of failure, death, worthlessness and futility. He had started hearing them not long after his awakening. They were tolerable at first, but they have since been growing louder and clearer, not giving him a moment's peace. The voices were maddening. They would not go away, but he found that they abated when he was doing acts of violence. They would come flooding back into his head in force, but he would have those precious few moments of silence in between.

_Failure…_

_Countless opportunities you wretches were given…_

_All of which ended in failure. .._

"Come on now, is that the best you got?!" He roared, rushing headlong into another trooper. Flipping the shotgun with one hand, he bashed the weapon like a heavy club into the trooper's abdomen. The trooper hunched over in pain before Gemini cracked his skull open with another swing. "Come on, you bastards! Try harder!" He said, almost pleadingly, throwing the shotgun aside and spreading his arms wide open. "Kill me!"

Seeing their comrades butchered didn't even seem to faze the remaining troopers as they converged on him, guns drawn. Gemini didn't even bother going behind cover as bullets tore into him, his blood forming a growing pool of scarlet around his feet. He cried out in pain; arms still wide open as the troopers' guns clicked empty, blood streaming from the many holes in his tattered body. The troopers could only gawk in disbelief as they fumbled to reload their guns, some even taking a few steps back, contemplating on running.

"What did you do to me?!" Gemini roared as biotic energies burst from his body. The troopers had regrouped around him, opening fire in futile as the bullets seemed to stop mid-air, caught in his barrier. Gemini howled in agony as glowing cracks began appearing on his skin again, tendrils of energy snaking all around him. "Why can't you kill me?!" The tendrils seemed to coil around him like a wound spring at first, before striking at all those around him, violently ripping apart steel and flesh in a hurricane of violence. Using his biotics was becoming more and more natural to him as he used them, the pain it brought him a fair price to pay for the havoc it wrought unto others.

_You are ours…_

No.

_Your very thoughts are ours..._

No, he was not crazy.

_You cannot escape us…_

He was in control of this madness.

_We are in control…_

"I AM IN CONTROL!" Gemini roared.

As quick as it had happened, the tendrils of energy receded back into Gemini and his biotic field dissipated, leaving a circle of gore around him. His skin started to regenerate, healing the burnt cracks all over his body. The violence surrounding him seemed to be enough to appease the voices, and his head was clear once more.

He grabbed his head, hyperventilating as he tried to calm himself down. The voices were gone for now, he assured himself. The old man said he had answers, and they better be damned good ones. He was broken from his musings as one of the troopers groaned in pain, getting back up to his feet.

"Hey you..." Gemini said as he circled the last surviving Cerberus trooper, the corpses of the man's deceased squad mates scattered all around them. "You don't think I'm crazy, right?" He asked, watching the trooper with amusement as the latter was panting, holding a combat knife in one hand and clutching his bleeding side with the other.

The trooper grunted in reply as he thrust the blade towards him, slashing in wild arcs that Gemini sidestepped with ease. The trooper almost tripped on himself, but managed to recover and continued his assault, swinging the blade trying to draw Gemini's blood.

"Hey! I asked you a question!" He said as he toyed with his prey, letting the blade get close and just barely dodging the slashes on purpose. "TELL ME I'M NOT CRAZY!"

Whether driven by anger, fear, or quite possibly both, the trooper just roared at him as he lunged with his knife, trying to drive the blade directly into Gemini's throat. Gemini sidestepped the blow and closed in on the crazed trooper, grabbing the arm holding the blade and striking a palm into the trooper's elbow. The arm snapped into two with a sickening crunch, causing the trooper to drop the blade and leaving everything from his elbow down limp and insensate. Before the man could yell in agony, Gemini twisted around and drove his elbow into the man's face sending him off of his feet and down on the ground.

Picking up the knife, Gemini was mumbling to himself incoherently as he approached the stunned trooper who was still lying on the ground. "Don't be mad, you're the one who made me do this…" He said as he stepped on the man's throat, making him squirm beneath his boot. The man struggled against him, grabbing Gemini's foot and trying to wrest it off. But that only made Gemini press harder, causing the trooper to gurgle. "It's quiet now, but they'll be back to haunt me." With a flick of his wrist, he threw the knife down. The blade punched right through armor and lodged itself deep into the trooper's shoulder, penetrating into the floor. Raising his foot off of the trooper's neck, he immediately stomped it down onto the hilt of the knife, driving the blade deeper into the trooper. The trooper screamed in pain as blood started to pool around him. Oh yes, the screams of the suffering were always delicious. The more agonized they were, the quieter the voices in his head were.

"Hurts don't it?" he asked as the trooper squirmed underneath him, weakly clawing at Gemini's foot, trying to pry it off of himself. Gemini only laughed in amusement as he ground his foot against the knife's hilt, driving it deeper into the trooper, making the latter shriek in pain. "Now tell me… what did you people do to my head!?" He ground his foot against the knife hilt, making the man whimper. "TELL ME!"

"You- You're…" The trooper tried to say, his breathing ragged as blood loss clouded his vision.

Gemini immediately let his foot off of the knife and knelt down next to him. "Yes… Tell me, please." He pleaded.

"You're a-!" He didn't get to finish what he was saying as his face exploded into a sea of blinding white light.

"What the-!" Gemini said as he shielded his face from the flash, his eye sight temporarily robbed from him. When his vision returned to him a few moments later, the first thing he saw was that the man's face was completely blown off, exposing mulched flesh and grey matter. "No… No, no, no…" he said as he grabbed the man's neck. In a fit of rage, he pulled the knife out of the man and started to repeatedly stab the corpse over and over again, blood spurting out of each new hole. "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TELL ME!" He was so enraged that he barely noticed the alien ringing in his head. Gemini dropped the knife and clutched his head. "You again!" Gemini sneered accussingly, looking around him.

"Oh dear, why are you so upset, brother?" Zsasz said in his head. "I just stopped him from spoiling the surprise. Ocular flash-bangs; I was in that board meeting when we decided to implement those in all the grunts. It's messy but effective."

"I have enough god damn voices in my head already without your greasy fingers leafing through it…" He replied. "What did you people do to me?"

"Oh brother, I would love to tell you, but these telepathic conversations are still ironically so… impersonal." Zsasz explained. "I'd rather speak to you _mano y mano_; face to face and all that."

"I'm sick of your games!"

"Really? Too bad, because I'm having the time of my li-."

"I'll kill you!" Gemini roared.

"And do you think that in doing so, the voices will stop?"

That caught Gemini's attention enough to break past his rage. "What… What do you know about the voices?"

"I see their influence has already reached you." Zsasz laughed heartily. "The voices, my dear brother, belong to the enemy; _Our_ enemy."

"You're not making any sense! None of this is making any damned sense! What do you mean 'our enemy'?" Gemini demanded. "What did you do to me!?"

"I gave you back what was lost. The process was interrupted by your untimely awakening, but I can make your mind whole again, freeing you from their grasp." Zsasz said consolingly. "Come to me and together, we will end their threat."

"Enough with the word play!" Gemini snapped. "Give me a straight answer!"

"You will understand soon enough. Find me, brother." And with that, the ringing stopped, and Gemini was alone in his mind once more.

For now.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back on Omega…<p>

The hull of the truck shook as enemy fire bounced off of its shields and armor, resisting a surprising amount of damage as it zoomed over the Eclipse. Miranda held on against a handrail as she struggled to stay up straight through the turbulence. "Joker, do you read me? Over." she said through her comm. "I repeat, do you read me?"

"Ms. Lawson, I have never been happier to read you or anybody else for that matter." Joker replied as a holovid of him came up on Miranda's omnitool interface, his voice just winning over the sound of the firefight. "Please tell me this is an extraction and not a goodbye. I hate goodbyes."

"Right… We're heading over to your position, so prep for extraction." She said, "What's your status?"

"It's, err… complicated, but we're all still alive." Joker replied, looking side to side uneasily on the holoscreen. "Wait, I can see you coming now. How are we doing this? You'll be massacred if you try to land in this bullet storm."

"You let me worry about that." Miranda said, "Just keep your heads down and try to stay alive."

"So do what we've been doing all along, gotcha." Joker said exasperatedly over the comm. "Any more helpful tips or are those the general guidelines we should abide by?"

"I can hurt you in ways you can't even begin to imagine, Joker." Miranda threatened.

"I'd take that over this any day, ma'am." Joker replied like a man with nothing left to lose.

"Lawson out." Miranda rolled her eyes as she shut off the link and turned to Legion. "Alright, it's your time to shine, Legion." She told the geth as the truck closed in on Joker's position. "You're… certain about this?" she asked uneasily.

Her concerns were valid because Legion was still busy tinkering with a pair of mangled, headless top halves of a couple of Ymir mechs. "Prognostics have projected 92.4% probability of success." The geth said as it was kneeling next to one of the wrecks, working on it with a holographic interface. Several wires snaked from Legion's torso, interfacing with the mechs' own circuitry as sparks flew every now and then. "We have sufficiently integrated this platform with the weapon's suites of these units." Legion began. "This platform can provide sufficient energy for a limited amount of time and exert enough control over foreign software to utilize the units' on board weaponry."

"The software is one thing, but the hardware itself isn't in the greatest condition…" Miranda countered, still not convinced by the idea. "And the power cores on those things aren't exactly what I'd like to call stable…"

Instead of replying, Legion made the Ymir mech he was working on suddenly jerk to life, causing Miranda to flinch in surprise.

"I see you've made your point." Miranda said, gathering herself again as the Ymir experimentally flexed and extended it's arms in smooth, fluid motions under Legion's influence. "Well, the articulation seems unhindered in this unit, but what about the other one?"

"We have already established control over the second unit." Legion dismissed.

"Impressive." Miranda finally conceded with a sincere tone.

"Running diagnostics… Diagnostics complete." Legion said as it stood up, walking behind the Ymir torsos. "Twin-linked TZ9-J heavy rocket launchers, operational and ready. Twin-linked GZ-7 heavy machine guns, operational and ready." The Ymirs raised their arms and said weapons shifted into active mode. "Targeting system in synch with this platform's own targeting software. This platform will now be able to provide sufficient cover fire." As if to emphasize the point, the Ymir arms were gesticulating as Legion spoke. "We are locked and loaded, to use human vernacular, waiting on your mark."

"Well, there's only one way to know for certain." Miranda said as she turned to the Shadow Broker agents with them. "Open the doors, this operation is a go."

* * *

><p>Joker cringed as a loud explosion slammed against their cover, the Eclipse slowly whittling it away through sheer firepower. Even sneaking in pot shots with blind fire wasn't feasible anymore as bullets flew and ricocheted all around them. Surprisingly, imminent death wasn't as terrifying as the sheer discomfort he was experiencing right now, sitting in between Garrus and Kasumi.<p>

It was a ray of sunshine in his dreary day when the next one to hail his comm was EDI. "EDI!" he said enthusiastically as he answered the transmission. "You're back!"

"Hello Joker, I have regained control of the Normandy." EDI replied as her holo avatar floated above his omnitool interface. "How are you?" the AI asked, almost awkwardly.

"How am I? HOW AM I?!" Joker said incredulously. "I, we, then the crash, and then both my legs, argh!" he started to blabber, not knowing where to start his account of tragic recent events. "You know what? I'm just going to say I'm fine." He finally settled, trying to ignore the pain coming from his legs.

"But according to my scans, the three of you are in severe life-threatening danger with very low chances of survival at only-."

"I'm fine, EDI." Joker said firmly, cutting off her dreary analysis and rubbing his temples. "Not to diminish the moment or anything, but now's probably not the time for a tearful reunion." He replied, "You had us all worried!"

"I apologize for any inconvenience I might have caus-."

"Apupupup…" Joker said, cutting her off again. "No apologies, just keep the engines warm for me, I'm coming back, alright? I'll have to sign off now."

"Alright, I'll see you soon Jeff. Logging you out." With that, EDI's holo avatar flickered before disappearing from his interface.

"Hey guys, EDI's back!" he announced to his companions, trying to lighten the tension as best as he can.

It was met with indifference as both Garrus and Kasumi simply replied "Neat." Despite saying the word in unison, they didn't show any recognition that the other one said the same thing at the same time.

"So… Um, before that, I just got off the comm with Miranda." He began uneasily. "She's on her way to pick us up." He pointed out into the distance, "See? You can even see her coming."

Kasumi shrugged, and almost the exact same time, she and Garrus said "Finally." This time however, both looked at each other because of their inadvertent synchronicity for a moment before looking away with gruff harrumphs. Joker could only face palm helplessly.

Even in the midst of the worst of worst case scenarios, his two companions somehow possessed impossibly stubborn egos that could put the Citadel Council to shame. At this very moment, Garrus and Kasumi were waging a war of silence and indifference against one another, with him caught in the middle. The two had an air of indignity about them, heads tilted away from each other just far enough as to keep the other one just outside of their field of vision. Not that it took away from their combat effectiveness at all. Ironically enough, both still displayed the same level of synergy when taking out Eclipse troopers when they could, they just didn't acknowledge the existence of the other person elsewise.

"You guys can't possibly be really doing this right now." Joker said, taking off his cap and running a hand through his dirty, matted hair. "I mean, seriously guys." Bullets ricocheted off of the top of their cover, causing Joker to flinch and duck. His companions however were almost indifferent to it. "Seriously." He said again, putting his cap back on, oblivious of the new bullet hole that adorned the cap right in the middle of its front.

After a couple of moments, Garrus sighed and turned around, looking at Kasumi. "Joker has a point. This is completely childish." He said with a tired tone laced in his voice. "We shouldn't be acting like this right now…"

Joker was silently nodding his head in affirmation.

Kasumi groaned and folded her arms across her chest. "I partially agree. I shouldn't be acting like this." She continued, "You, on the other hand, suit this childishness so well."

"Excuse me?" Garrus replied, the spines on his fringe ruffling a bit.

At this, Joker could only stare at Kasumin in shock as he shook his head warily, mouthing 'no' over and over again.

"You heard me." Kasumi said, tilting her head to glare at Garrus. "Or is turian hearing not up to par these days."

"Now you've just crossed the line from insulting into full blown racism." Garrus spat back. "Jeez, Kasumi, I thought you were better than that."

"At least I'm not a stubborn, stuck up jerk."

"Well at least I'm not the one acting like a spoiled little-"

Joker almost threw his hands into the air had he not have the presence of mind to remember that they were under fire. "Oh my fucking god!" He blurted out, catching the pair unawares. "Am I the only one who realizes we're up to our necks in shit here?! Jesus, there's a time and a place for your goddamn issues and it is definitely not here and now! What the hell has gotten into you two? You obviously both had good fucking intentions, so let's try not to let that tear the god damned team apart! I am not about to die surrounded by drama!" He panted for a bit before taking a deep breath. "I… am… so sorry, but that was literally the most eloquent way I could put that given the situation and circumstances."

Kasumi cleared her throat, wiping away the wide-eyed look of surprise on her face before speaking. "Joker has a point. This is completely childish." She began. "We shouldn't be acting like this right now…"

Garrus slapped a palm to his forehead and groaned, rolling his eyes. "Oh you have got to be kidding me…"

"Control yourself, Garrus." Kasumi said haughtily. "We can discuss this later."

Garrus could only stare at her in disbelief, mouthing words that he could not bring himself to say. Women. "You know what? Yeah, sure." Garrus scoffed, his voice strained, shrugging exasperatedly. "Later. Later sounds good." He mumbled. "Not to mention the obvious but we're pinned here. Miranda had better brought some serious firepower to ease off the pressure on us."

"Well you know Miranda, planning is her forte." Kasumi replied, looking at the truck that was quickly approaching. She tilted her head a bit to the side as she watched the truck do a sharp 180 degree spin, it's thrusters adjusting to keep the truck coming towards them, but in reverse now. "What in the-? Is… is that truck flying in reverse now"

Joker scratched his head in confusion. "I… guess?" He flipped open his comm and hailed Miranda. "Hey Miranda, what gives? Is your pilot having a seizure?" he asked.

Miranda's voice crackled over the comm. "Now would be the time to keep your head down, Joker."

"Eh?" Joker replied, but his confusion was quickly washed away as he saw the rear doors of the truck open up, revealing Legion's pair of makeshift turret emplacements. "Oh. Yeah, uh, copy that."

Garrus nodded in approval as he caught sight of it too. "Damn."

"I'll say." Kasumi chimed in.

* * *

><p>Miranda turned towards Legion and gave it a nod of her head. "Fire at will."<p>

"Executing." Legion simply said before two pairs of heavy machine guns burst to life, raining death into the Eclipse lines from above. Every now and then, the torrent of bullets would stop, only for them to be replaced by rockets that thundered towards their targets, blooming into fiery explosions. The Eclipse troopers were caught unaware by the ferocious firepower the unassuming truck was carrying, paying for their underestimations in blood and fire as troopers fell dead in droves.

The truck awkwardly circled around for another pass in reverse, testing the pilots skills to the limits, as it arced around to let Legion unload another volley of death into the hapless mercs.

Joker's voice came through Miranda's comm, laced with awe and disbelief. "Remind me never to doubt you again, Miranda." Joker said, his face on the holovid following the path of the truck. "I mean damn."

"What? You expected some meat head attempt at dropping in a counter assault party to ease off the pressure on you guys? Please, what do I look like? Shepard?" Miranda asked, "Besides, this was Legion's idea, for better or for worse."

"Well tell that bucket of bolts I'm getting them whatever they want next shore leave!" Joker said.

"Copy that," Miranda replied, suppressing a chuckle. "Now prep for extraction."

* * *

><p>Garrus sighed as he hefted his assault rifle. The chaos Legion was causing significantly reduced the number of guns aimed in their general direction, making popping out of cover not a certain death warrant. This also meant that they were now free to return fire. "Well, time to voice out our displeasure at being shot at, I suppose." He said, checking the specs on the gun. "And by voicing out our displeasure, I really mean shoot the hell out of somebody."<p>

"Oh, good." Kasumi said as she loaded a fresh clip into her locust. "Because shooting somebody is way easier than talking something out."

"I'll keep that in mind." Garrus said as he swung out of cover.

"You'd do well to do so." Kasumi replied casually, swinging out of cover herself.

As they pulled on their triggers, Joker was still huddled up behind cover. "You two have fun." He said as he clutched his head with both hands, "I'll just stay down here and do what Miranda told me to do."

"Suit yourself." Kasumi said as she bent down and snatched her pistol from him, using both her guns to mow down trooper after trooper.

Miranda's voice blared in over Joker's omnitool. "Here we go, fire in the hole!"

Joker didn't even dare peek as he relayed the message to Garrus and Kasumi. "Fire in the hole!"

"Fire in the-?" Garrus clicked his mandibles as he watched the truck, now flying properly towards them, jettison the two Ymir torsos over the Eclipse. The power cores of these heavy mechs were infamous for being unstable when damaged and even more so for their large blast radius when they overloaded. This made them perfect as ad-hoc bombs in certain situations. A little bit too close for comfort as he realized they were probably within the said blast radius. "Fantastic." He muttered, grabbing Kasumi by the arm and diving behind cover. Kasumi squeaked as the turian pulled her down with him to the ground just as the Ymirs crashed into the Eclipse.

Kasumi fell on her back with a thud as debris and fire flew above them from the resulting explosion. The explosion passed, and a huge wall of smoke now hung between them and the Eclipse. "Hey-!" she began to protest, only to realize that Garrus was on his hands and knees on top of her, his face inches from hers. The proximity made her breath short.

"Sorry." He muttered, as the tiny particles of debris rained on top of them. "Combat training just kind of kicks in at times."

"Well, um, you should learn to handle a lady a little bit more delicately." She said, making Garrus raise his eyebrow in skepticism.

"A lady? And here I thought you said you were a soldier…" Garrus said with a short chuckle.

"A woman has many layers." Kasumi grinned, then suddenly sticking her tongue out at him. "I'm still mad at you, by the way."

"Good because I'm still mad at you, too." Garrus said, looking her in the eye. "Glad we could clear that up." Before they could say anything else, the truck landed several yards next to them and Shadow Broker operatives jumped out to assist the group. "Looks like our ride is here…" he said as he got up, holding out a hand for Kasumi. "Let's go."

Kasumi looked at him for a second before reaching up and clasping his hand with hers, letting him pull her up. "Yeah, I've just about had enough of this shipyard to last me a lifetime." She looked at the newcomers and tilted her head. "So… Shadow Broker agents?"

"After everything that's happened, I can't quite care anymore." Garrus said as he raised his rifle and trained it into the smoke that separated them from the Eclipse.

Two of the agents were busy helping up Joker and assisted him on board the truck. "Hey, I'm not complaining." He said as they made their way up the small ramp into the back of the truck. "Ow! Easy now…"

Miranda stepped up to the back of the truck, hands on her hips and an impatient look on her face. "We met up with them a couple of hours back after they saved our lives." she said as shots were starting to fly again. She pulled out her pistol and started firing into the smoke. "Well don't just stand there and stare, let's go!"

"Thanks, Miri." Kasumi said, letting go of Garrus' hand and headed straight into the truck after Joker. She called out to him over her shoulder as she hopped aboard. "You heard the lady, let's not dally."

Garrus fired several shots into the smoke before he hopped in after her. The doors shut soon after, bullets pitter-pattering against it soon after, and he felt the throttle of the truck accelerating away. Slumping down against the wall, Garrus suddenly felt exhaustion mount up on him and his body felt like it was chewed out by a thresher maw and weighed a ton. It could have been much worse though. On the wall opposite to him, one of the agents was busy tending to Joker's injuries while another agent was kneeling next to him, inspecting his injuries without a word. Garrus didn't have the energy to protest as the agent nodded in satisfaction and reapplied medigel on the dressings of his wounds. They had made it out of that situation, but they still had to get out of this shipyard. "Hey Legion!" he said after spotting the geth. He pulled the widow from behind him and tossed it back to it's owner. "Thanks, I owe you."

"Ah! We were wondering where this went!" Legion exclaimed as it shifted the gun into active mode. "Given the circumstances, we have come to the consensus that we do not mind. But we would appreciate being inquired for its use in the future."

Garrus merely jerked his head tiredly towards Kasumi, who could only smile sheepishly and waved at Legion.

Legion looked at the master thief for a moment before folding the weapon back into stand-by mode and stored it on his back. "We see."

"Hey, you got it back, right?" Kasumi said in her defense, Cheshire grin shining under her hood. Legion only stared at her emptily, but she wasn't fazed. "Oh don't you start being child-like like Garrus over here."

Garrus opened his mouth to say something in his defense but thought better of it. She was still alive, and that somehow made him feel better about the whole situation. Kasumi saw him, and they locked eyes for a few second before she winked at him and quickly looked away. Garrus just leaned his head back and let out a sigh of relief. He could use a nap.

* * *

><p>Zaeed unloaded with his revenant into the incoming enemies as he mowed done mech after mech with no end in sight. "Damn it, what's taking them so long?!" He cursed as he ducked behind cover to quickly reload his gun, it's barrel glowing from the rate of fire it's underwent through the night. "At this rate, we might as well start sticking bayonets onto our guns!"<p>

"What? You don't already carry one with you, old man?" Jacob said as he blasted a mech apart with his shotgun.

"Less sass and more fighting, pup!" Zaeed barked back ironically as he went back to stemming the tide of the enemy's approach. "What I wouldn't give for some good ordinance right about now!"

"We just got to hold on for a bit more!" Jacob yelled back over the din of gun fire as he used his biotics to fling pieces of broken mechs like shrapnel into the enemy to try and delay their advance. "EDI, what's the status of the ship?"

"The armor plating is nearly reinstalled." EDI replied. True enough, the gaping ventral hole in the Normandy's hull was now sealed off as the huge robotic arms were now steadily running through the seams of the armor with it's plasma torch, creating an airtight seal and locking the pieces into place. "I could offer supporting fire, but the collateral damage alone from the thanix cannons will do more harm than good."

"Save it for the big escape, I want to leave with a- damn it!" Jacob cursed as a round slammed into his shields so hard that he was knocked over onto his back, slamming his head into the ground.

"Taylor!" Zaeed yelled as the veteran merc tried to make his way over to Jacob's position to no avail. The enemy fire was just too thick to try and venture out into the open. "Jacob, talk to me!" he yelled out again. "Grunt!" he called out to the krogan on the other corner of the line who was closest to Jacob. "Can you reach him?"

"We're pinned!" Grunt called back, taking out target after target with his sniper rifle. Even so, it was doing little to stem the incoming tide of Eclipse. "Just let him get a breather in, the shot didn't seem to break past his shields! For now, he's safe behind cover!"

Grunt roared in pain and fury as he blasted away with his assault rifle. Even with his injuries, the young krogan had refused to retreat back into the Normandy and has instead elected to stay and help in its defense. Even with his unnatural regenerative capabilities, his injuries were still far too severe to have let him run at a hundred percent.

The Eclipse had been slowly advancing, using their mech divisions as moving cover as the troopers leap frogged their way closer and closer to the Normandy. The two sides were closing in on each other fast as Fenrir mechs started to break from formation and rush headlong into the Normandy's defensive lines. They were also heading right towards the unconscious form of Jacob.

"For the love of…" Zaeed cursed as he tried to mow down the mechanical hounds before they could get to his fallen squadmate. "Everyone! Shoot down those damned dogs before they get any closer!"

"Slag it!" Grunt yelled, the berserker shooting surprisingly precise bursts of fire and in doing so downing several Fenrirs. "I can't get all of them in time!"

"Goddamn it all! Wake up, Taylor!" Zaeed yelled helplessly, trying in vain to mow down all of the incoming Fenrirs before they could get into melee range. The Fenrirs were now only a few feet away from their cover, and Zaeed had to make a choice between defending himself or Jacob. The choice was made for him as a Fenrir lunged over his cover, right for his throat. Zaeed batted it away with the butt of his rifle, then unloaded pointblank on the mech. Not long after that, another mech was closing in on him again, but he was able to shoot it down before it got to striking range. He looked over at Jacob's direction again to find three fenrirs making their way towards his unconscious companion. Swinging his revenant in their direction, he managed to dispose two out of three of the mechs before his gun clicked empty. "No!" He cried out, fumbling to reload as he watched one of the quadripedal mechs leap over Jacob's cover and pounce at the man.

There was a shimmer in the air, and the mech was cut neatly into two pieces. Feron faded into existence as his cloak wore off, crouching protectively over Jacob, his blade shining as he quickly disposed of several more Fenrirs that came his way. "I have this man secured, focus on defending yourselves!" he called out, pulling out an SMG and opening fire.

"Much appreciated!" Zaeed yelled back, relief flooding him as he reloaded, turning his full attention once more towards the Eclipse.

Feron's sudden appearance caused a sudden boost in the morale of the other Shadow Broker agents, but Zaeed knew this surge would be short lived if Shepard and then others didn't return soon. Just as he was thinking that however, he heard the whine of engines in the air, and looked up to see the two trucks coming in from opposite directions.

Zaeed's comm beeped with an incoming transmission from Shepard. "About god damn time!" he barked as he flipped open the comm. "Get your asses back here!"

"We're nearly there, Zaeed!" Shepard said over the comm. "The Cain should have enough juice left for another crowd control shot, get ready!"

"Right!" Zaeed said, putting away his gun and waving down a couple of the agents next to him. "Give me some cover fire, it's about to get hot in here again!" As the agents provided him with said cover fire, he pulled out the Cain and primed it for one more shot. This time would be more difficult however; the number of obstacles in closer proximity meant that he might accidentally catch themselves within the blast radius as well. This meant that he had to find a large enough gap in the line of the mechs to fire off his shot. "Come on, you yellow bastards, give us a peek." He said, aiming down the weapon's sights.

* * *

><p>Tarrana couldn't help a smirk of disdain as she noticed the two trucks coming back to the Normandy. She had given clear orders to have the pair of vehicles shot down before they could extract the isolated crew members of the Normandy. But despite the fact, both trucks were returning with their cargo in tow. Heads would roll for this one, she thought as she led her men in what would be the final charge against the Normandy. The mechs in front of them provided a mobile screen of cover, but they were quickly being mowed down by the defenders. It didn't matter if any were left standing after this, just so long as the mechs got them close enough to overwhelm the Normandy.<p>

Her target had been in arms reach all this time, but now she was practically grabbing it. All she needed to do now was to make it hers, and rechristen the ship in the blood of its former crew. Just as she was thinking that, she sensed a presence that made her almost trip on herself. Looking up into the sky, her eyes fell on one of the trucks. There was a presence there that was ingrained in her since she had joined the Father's family.

She should have realized it sooner when Patriarch failed to kill Shepard and a convoy of trucks carrying combatants came zooming into the defense of the Normandy. But she was blinded by her desire to acquire the ship. Now, she was elated by having all their targets appear in one place.

A wide grin split across her face. That truck contained Shepard and the presence she felt confirmed it. And today, she would be the one to kill him. Father would be so proud of her, and she can gloat it over the Patriarch for as long as she wanted. "Forward, darlings!" She cried, rallying her soldiers. "Tonight, we capture the Normandy and kill the great Commander Shepard!"

A rather furious barrage of gun fire mowed down the Lokis in front of her, but that did little to impede her advance, and already the remaining mechs were moving to close the gaps in the defenses. It was a futile effort on the defenders' parts, but she had to commend their will to live. It made her want to kill them even more.

"My lady!" one of her troops suddenly called out to her with alarm.

"What is it?!" She demanded, facing the man, annoyed at him for breaking her trail of thought. The trooper flinched at her reaction, but he still managed to raise a shaking finger to point at her chest. "Hmm?" she said, quite puzzled by the gesture and looked down on her ample bosom. She saw a large, bright red targeting laser emblazoned over her heart. She raised her head and looked across the battlefield to see a man aiming what could only be a Cain right at her. "Oh fiddlesticks…"

A moment later, light and heat blossomed all around her as she was caught in ground zero of the Cain's payload.

* * *

><p>Shepard shielded his eyes as he watched the explosion from up above. A good number of the Eclipse was caught in the blast, giving them the cover they needed for their retreat. "Man, that thing should be standard issue." He said, marveling at the destruction.<p>

He felt a punch to his shoulder, and looked over to see Tali giving him what could only be a disapproving look under her visor. "Oh please, you'd blow yourself up within the hour." She said.

"Oh come one, give me some credit here." He retorted, rubbing his sore shoulder. "I know how to handle a gun."

"Okay, maybe two hours tops." She teased. "Besides, with the way you fight, you'd sooner use it as a club rather than a gun."

"It's called an unorthodox fighting style, thanks."

Tali scoffed. "It's called putting one foot in the grave."

Before Shepard could reply, the truck shook violently as something heavy landed on its roof near the cab. "What the hell was that?" Shepard said as he moved for his gun, looking up at the ceiling of the truck's hull. He tried standing up, but his body wouldn't move, his injuries finally taking their toll on him.

"Could be debris from the explosion?" Tali reasoned, although she was already clutching her shotgun, crouching over Shepard defensively.

"The Cain doesn't kick up much debris when it vaporizes most things in its blast radius…"

Thane stood up along with the two Shadow Broker agents, and investigated the spot where the noise originated from, guns drawn and pointed towards the ceiling. Before they could react, a large portion of the ceiling was violently torn open as a long, clawed arm reached into hull, knocking Thane aside then impaling one of the agents with it's talons, pulling the still screaming girl through the opening it had made. Not a moment later, the screaming stopped and pieces of the girl fell back into the hull. The other agent screamed in rage at the death of her companion, firing blindly through the opening when another arm reached in and decapitated her with a swipe.

Thane had gotten up, making his way to where Tali and Shepard were huddled together, gun aimed at the opening.

"Ancestors! It just killed them!" Tali said in panic as she moved closer to Shepard. "What was that _thing_?"

Thane shook his head. "I didn't get a clear look, but it is most likely another one of those things Grunt and Feron were fighting."

"Wha? Like a monster?" She asked again, turning to Shepard when Thane remained silent.

Suddenly the wall opposite to them was torn open, black talons cleaving through the reinforced armor with ease as something wailed at them from outside, the screeching going over the roaring of the truck's engine. Through the tears on the wall, they could see a slender, twisted figure, charred black and still somewhat smoldering with embers, snarling at them with a mouth full of needle sharp teeth and eyes that glowed a bright purple. "Sssssshepard!" it hissed, tearing away at the wall as it tried to reach for them.

Tali's eyes widened, sparing a quick glance at Shepard before unloading with her shotgun. "It knows you?!"

"I am just as confused and terrified as you are." Shepard assured her as he and Thane both raised their pistols and joined Tali in blasting away at the monster. "Aim for the head!" he called out to them, the monster's claws swiping at them mere feet away.

The monster shielded it's face as bullets tore away at it's flesh, splattering blood everywhere. A deep growl rumbled in it's throat and the monster lunged at them.

Shepard pulled Tali down with him into the floor and out of the way, just in time as the monster's long arm embedded it's claws into the wall behind them. Shepard noticed that it was yanking on it's arm, trying to pull out of the wall. "It's stuck!"

Not wasting the opportunity, Thane pulled out a serrated blade from his sleeve and flung it into the monster's eye, causing it to flail and screech in agony as the knife buried itself hilt deep into its socket. Meanwhile, Shepard used the distraction to pull out his shotgun, stabbing the bayonet into the monster's stuck arm and pulling the trigger at point-blank range. There was an explosion of fine red mist and the arm was severed from the monster's body just below the elbow.

The monster roared in pain as it swatted Shepard away with the bloody stump, throwing him right into Thane as payback. It stepped into the truck, growling menacingly at the two men as they tried to get back on their feet.

"Leave them alone, you ugly bosh'tet!" Tali cried out, opening fire with her shotgun and catching the side of the monster's face. The monster snarled in pain, turning around to face Tali, only to have her drone, Chiktikka vas Paus, slam against it's face in an explosion of light and electricity.

The monster clutched it's face with her remaining hand and blindly charged at Tali, who managed to duck underneath the monster and head towards Thane and Shepard. In it's rage however, the monster blindly swiped at the wall separating the hull from the cab, shredding the driver through it and causing the truck to careen out of control.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the other truck had already landed, and the Normandy's forces were slowly retreating back into the ship while the Eclipse reeled from another devastating blast.<p>

Miranda knelt beside Jacob's unconscious form, checking his vitals as she silently berated him for getting injured. He was stable enough, save for the large bruise splattered across his chest where the high caliber round slammed against his shields, stopping the bullet but not the impact. "He's stable, just a slight concussion. We can move him safely now." Miranda announced as Zaeed knelt beside him and slung Jacob's arm around his shoulders.

Jacob groaned as Zaeed pulled him up to his feet, his eyes flickering groggily open. "Ugh… Is that you, Miri? What hit me?"

"High caliber sniper round." Miranda said disapprovingly. "Be more careful next time. It would be inconvenient if anything happened to you."

"Nice to know you still care." Jacob said grinning, causing Miranda to raise an eyebrow, but smiling back all the same.

"Get him on the ship, Zaeed." Miranda dismissed. "He must've knocked his head harder than we thought."

Zaeed managed to hold in his laughter long enough until him and Jacob were halfway up the landing ramp. "Real smooth, Casanova."

"Bite me." Jacob replied, making Zaeed's laughter more obnoxious.

Back outside, Miranda was hurrying everyone to get in, when she happened upon Legion, simply staring up into the sky.

"Legion, we have to hurry!" The geth showed no signs of registering her. "Legion?"

The geth merely pointed up into the air. "Something is not right."

Miranda looked up towards the truck carrying Shepard as it started to trail smoke. "What the hell is going on up there?" she asked quietly as she tried to hail the commander. "Shepard? Shepard, do you read me? Your truck is flying erratically, anything wrong up there?" The answer came in the form of a fiery explosion as the cab of the truck caught fire. "Shepard!"

* * *

><p>Shepard slowly got to his feet with the help of Thane and Tali, his body protesting against every little movement he made. "God damn…" he managed to mutter as he watched the monster tear into the fiery innards of what was once the truck cab. "We need a plan of escape." He said plainly as the monster roared in the blaze.<p>

"What do we do?" Tali asked as she put his arm around her shoulders, supporting his weight. "There's nowhere else to go, John!" Blue light flashed in her peripheral vision and she turned to see Thane engulfed in biotic energy. "Thane?"

"Thane! What do you think you're doing?" Shepard demanded.

"The only thing we can do." the drell replied as his field dissipated.

Tali shook her head in disbelief. "You're not suggesting that we-?"

"It would appear that we do not have a choice." Thane confirmed, "I know the risks I am taking Shepard, but I'd rather we didn't die here like this." He looked Shepard straight in the eye, and the other man just nodded, conceding defeat.

"Looks like it's the only plan we have." Shepard said, not really liking the idea for Thane's sake. "The auto-pilot is still holding out, but not for long."

Tali just groaned, "I suppose most anything is better than facing-!"

She was cut off when the monster stepped out of the fire and back onto the hull, it's body pulsating as bone and meat rearranged itself under it's charred skin, bubbling with fetid boils and pus. Black tendrils burst from its body, mending the monster's wounds shut and even forming a brand new fore arm from the bloody stump of its elbow. The monster's transformation was gut-wrenchingly disgusting as the writhing mass of flesh slowly compressed in on itself into something more feminine. Blue skin started to grow across it's body, and where a hideous monster once stood, it was now replaced by a beautiful and naked asari. "My, my, where are my manners?" she said, smiling warmly as she slowly approached the trio. "We haven't even exchanged introductions yet! I apologize. I usually don't forget my manners unless I'm absolutely… _pissed off_."

"What are you…?" Shepard asked, his brain not quite registering what was going on in front of him. He felt Tali grab his hand and squeeze it firmly.

"Keelah…" she whispered under her breath.

"My name, dear commander, is Tarrana Ionet." The asari said with a twirl, giving them a good look at her naked body from all sides. "As to what I am, I am the reigning commander of the Omega Eclipse and most beautiful of the Father's children." She licked her lips as the commander stared at her. "Do you like what you see? Come and take a closer look…"

At this comment, Tali cocked her shotgun, temporarily forgetting her fear as her instincts shifted to protecting Shepard. "I don't know what kind of father raises something like you, but you better back off, witch. You're not getting your filthy hands on him."

"Oh my, so feisty and possessive. I wonder, hmmm…" Tarrana giggled, taking a sniff in the air. "That scent about you… You're his _woman_." She said with astonishment, turning to Shepard. "I did not think you were into _suit rats_, Commander!"

Tali was about to say something in protest, but Shepard snarled. "Don't call her that."

"But that is what she is." Tarrana objected. "A suit rat."

In the blink of an eye, Shepard drew his pistol, pulling the trigger and landing a bullet right in between Tarrana's eyes. He did not like people bad-mouthing quarians, most especially Tali.

Instead of falling over dead however, the wound on Tarrana's head slowly started to close. She laughed with amusement at the look on their faces, licking the small dribble of blood that reached her lips. "Did I hit a nerve, Shepard?" She said, approaching them once more. Her hands started to swell, her fingers erupting into razor sharp claws. "If that pissed you off, I wonder how you'll feel after I gut your precious little suit rat right in front of you."

"You'll have to go through me first!" Shepard said, stepping in front of Tali protectively.

"Oh I can do that _easily_, commander."

Thane cleared his throat, stepping up from where he was standing and calling Tarrana's attention to himself.

"Oh right, the drell." Tarrana said. "Make your groveling quick; I still have much to do after I kill the three of you."

"Kill us?" He took out his red tinted shades from his coat and casually slipped it on his face. "An interesting proposal, but consider the following…" A flash bang grenade slipped out from his sleeve and Thane pulled the pin, lobbing it at Tarrana.

Tarrana shielded her face as the flashbang blinded and disoriented her, shrieking as her eyes burned from the brightness. "You fools!" She roared as her body morphed back into her monstrous form. "You've just delayed the inevitable and annoyed me in the process!" She shrieked as her vision slowly returned. "I'm going to enjoy- eh?" Tarrana looked around in confusion as she found no sign of Shepard or his companions. "Where did they-?" her musings were interrupted when she felt something roll against her foot. She looked down and saw several armed grenades rolling about on the floor. "SHEPARD!"

* * *

><p>The truck exploded above them as Shepard, Tali and Thane plummeted to the ground. Thane discarded his shades, his eyes glowing bright blue as biotic energy emanated from his body, capturing Shepard and Tali in his biotic field and bringing them close together.<p>

Tali immediately reached out to grab Shepard's hand, squeezing it tightly. "Oh ancestors… That was terrifying!" she yelled to him as they fell. "I have no idea what just happened!"

"Me neither!" Shepard replied, squeezing her hand back. The ground was coming up pretty fast he noticed. "Any time now, Thane!" he yelled out to the drell. "Thane!?" Just as they were about to slam against the hard metal floor, biotic energy burst around them, stopping their fall with several feet to spare. "Whew… Thanks man; never doubted you."

"You're welcome." Thane replied as he gently laid them down to the ground. They had landed right next to the Normandy, and Thane looked up to see the falling debris from the truck's explosion. "We must leave. Now."

"Copy that." Shepard replied. He noticed that Tali's leg's were wobbling as she tried to regain her footing, and Shepard was more than happy to support her as they made their way back to the Normandy's landing ramp. His body was also running on empty, and he was relieved when Thane stepped up beside him and placed his arm around his shoulders, helping him along as well.

They walked in a daze for a while, before Tali broke the silence. "We just jumped out of a moving vehicle suspended high in the air escaping some kind of mutant asari monstrosity." She said matter-of-factly.

"More or less." Shepard replied.

"First the collectors, now some mutated asari freak." Tali groaned as she slowly regained her balance with each step. "Why can't the enemies _not_ be terrifying monstrosities? Is that too much to ask?"

"You're preaching to the choir." Shepard said, as they approached the ramp. They were greeted by Legion and Miranda, who ran up to help them.

"Shepard-Commander!" Legion said in alarm as he relieved Thane and Tali with the responsibility of supporting Shepard by taking the man's arm around his shoulders. "We saw the explosion, projected analysis predicted minimum chances for your survival. We are happy to see that you and the others beat the odds."

"So are we, Legion." Shepard replied as they made their way into the Normandy. "Miranda, what's our status?"

"Ready to go on your order, commander." Miranda said as she supported Tali around her shoulders.

"Consider that order given, executive officer." Shepard nodded.

"You heard the man, EDI." Miranda said out loud. "Seal this ramp and tell all hands to prepare for lift off!"

"Copy that. Sealing landing ramp." EDI replied as the ramp closed up behind them, her voice resonating around the entire Normandy. "Attention all hands, man your stations. All crew members have been accounted for. Prepare for immediate lift off."

* * *

><p>Joker worked the interfaces on his console in the cockpit with fervor, the stims and painkillers that Dr. Chakwas had injected into him for first aid giving him a slight buzz. "Copy that, all systems green and running at optimum efficiency." He said as the Normandy's engines hummed into life. "Folding up landing gear. All hands better be at your designated stations and hang on, because this could get bumpy."<p>

Outside, the Eclipse started to run in panic as the ship started to float off the ground, its mass effect core priming.

"EDI!" Joker said as the ship turned to face the massive doors that separated the void of space and the shipyard. "Let's exit with style."

"Thanix cannons powering up." EDI said as the massive gun flipped out from the Normandy's hull. "Ready to fire on your mark, Joker."

"Have fun in the cold vacuum of space you Eclipse mother fuckers." Joker said as he strapped on his safety harness. "Let's get the heck out of here… Fire!"

Outside, two lances of blue light pierced through Omega's shell as the doors to the shipyard exploded, with the Normandy flying out of the ensuing blaze.


	28. Downtime

Chapter 27: Downtime

* * *

><p>The Normandy's medbay was far too small to accommodate the sheer number of injured which spilled out into the mess hall. They were prioritizing care for the critically injured, giving those with only non-life threatening injuries first aid in the meantime.<p>

Despite the turbulence of the Normandy's escape and the several people tumbling about from it, Mordin maintained his balance and hand eye coordination long enough as he secured Jack on top of the bunk. "Secure the patients! Watch those IV lines!" he cried out in annoyance to the several Shadow Broker medics who were aiding him as things flew about in the room. "And take care of the sharps! Enough injuries to treat already without adding to the problem!" He said as he hurriedly slammed a drawer containing sharp instruments closed just as it started to open from the commotion.

Dr. Chakwas shielded an unconscious Samara with her own body as over a dozen small bottles of medication fell from the top shelf, grunting in pain as they rained against her back. "EDI, please get on the horn and tell Joker to take it easy on the show-boating!" she said, making sure Samara was unharmed. "I knew I should've lowered the dose I gave him!" she added to herself regarding Joker's pain medication and how the ensuing euphoria must be affecting his flying of the Normandy.

"Of course, doctor." EDI replied through the intercom.

After a few more tense moments, the turbulence ground to a halt and the ship finally flew on smooth sailing. "Oh, thank the heavens…" Dr. Chakwas said in relief as she secured Samara on to the bed, just in case the ship brought about another bout of turbulence.

"Doctor Chakwas." Mordin called out to her, garnering her attention. "Managed to stabilize Jack. However, would appreciate it if you apply biotic dampeners. She's not the friendliest person if she woke up strapped down to a table. No interest in spending retirement as a smear on the wall."

"Of course, Doctor." Chakwas replied as she rummaged on her table for a bracelet like cuff, hurrying over to Jack's side and slipping the device around her wrist. The device suppressed biotic reactions in quick bursts. Hopefully for long enough should Jack wake up in a panic. "Samara's condition has stabilized for the moment as well, Doctor Solus." She said as she adjusted the rate of Jack's IV. "She has suffered severe muscle tearing in all her extremities, but we've quelled the internal bleeding."

"Alright, we can leave them to recuperate, then." Mordin said, walking over to the bed where none other but the deposed queen of Omega sat, a cross look on her face as she clutched her mangled hand to her chest. "Have you reconsidered your options, Aria?" he asked her, taking her hand into his and re-examining the damage.

Aria T'loak pulled her hand away from him and slapped him in the process. "I've already told you, Mordin; Amputation is out of the question!"

"Amputation only short term solution, not final treatment plan." Mordin insisted, rubbing his cheek. "Too much damage to salvage! Nerves are severed, blood vessels obliterated, high risk for necrosis and spread of systemic infection, not to mention the irreversible chronic pain." Mordin enumerated to her. "Could get cloned limb grafted onto arm later on if artificial prosthetics not to your likin- urk!" He choked as Aria grabbed him by the bar on his collar.

"Read my lips: N. O." She hissed, and then pushed him away. "It's not a hard concept to understand, Mordin."

"As your physician, I must insist." Mordin continued, regaining his composure. "If other treatment options were available, would consider them, but there is none. Procedure would be quick and painless, with high rate of-."

Mordin's newfound composure suddenly crumbled as Aria grabbed him by the collar again and gave him a venomous glare. "Stop. Talking. Now. Or. Else."

"Alright, will conform to patient's demands." He replied. It was at this point that Dr. Chakwas noticed Mordin's hand slowly go to his coat pocket, gingerly grabbing a hypodermic syringe filled with what she recognized as a tranquilizer.

Before the situation could escalate any further, Dr. Chakwas quickly got between the pair and attempted to defuse the situation. "Maybe we should give the patient some more time to consider, hmm Mordin?" she said hurriedly, gently prying Mordin from Aria's grip and guiding him away before anything else could happen. "There are still others who need aid and I do not fancy the thought of doing all the work on my own."

"Ah, of course. Will allow time for stages of grief and acceptance to settle in with regards to mangled appenda-"

Dr. Chakwas was practically pushing him away from the sneering Aria now. "Yes, yes, let's leave her to it then." She said, cutting him off and bringing Mordin outside to where the majority of the injured laid about in the mess hall. Medics were busy cleaning wounds and stitching up what they could, while others were assessing the severity of injury. "These people need our help, too."

The familiar hiss of the lift doors opening alerted them to new arrivals, and shortly thereafter, Legion turned the corner supporting the bloody mess that was Commander Shepard. "Mordin-Doctor! Chakwas-Doctor! Shepard has been damaged!" The geth said as medics quickly relieved it of Shepard. Tali, Thane and Miranda turned the corner just a second later, worried looks etched on their faces.

Dr. Chakwas hurried to Shepard's side, scanning his vitals as the medics helped him limp towards the med bay. "John! You're a bloody mess!" she admonished him worriedly. "Tali, what happened?"

"He was stable just a few moments ago!" The panicked quarian began, walking with them. "He was fine, but then he just collapsed in the elevator and... I don't know, help him!"

Mordin rubbed his chin as he looked over Shepard. "Hmmm. Sudden change in condition probably due to crash from adrenaline high. Cursory observation reveals extensive injury." He mumbled to himself, flashing a light in Shepard's eyes. "Must get patient lying down on a bed for further tests."

"What the hell happened to you, John?" Dr. Chakwas asked exasperatedly as she continued scanning him with her omnitool. "You look terrible!"

"Sorry docs…" Shepard replied groggily as the congregation made their way into the med bay. "The bad guys got... Ugh… Got it worse though…."

Tali cupped his cheek with one hand. "Shhh, just rest John, try not to talk so much." She whispered to him. "If this is going to be how it ends up, I don't want you rescuing me ever again."

"No promises…" He replied with a weak half smile.

"I figured." Tali said with a bitter-sweet chuckle. "I'm going to kick your ass so hard when you get better."

Dr. Chakwas gently cleared her throat to get both of their attentions. "Unfortunately we'll have to ask you to wait outside the medbay, Tali. It's a warzone in there."

"Of course, doctor." Tali nodded, and then turned back to Shepard, saying the next few words with as much affection as she could muster. "Don't think you've gotten yourself out of trouble. Hurry up and get well, you bosh'tet."

"Yes ma'am." Shepard said, flashing her a smile as he was quickly ushered into the medbay, the doors sliding shut behind them.

"You can stop acting tough now." Dr. Chakwas pointed out nonchalantly.

As soon as he was certain Tali was out of sight, Shepard's face broke from his impassive expression into a grimace of excruciating pain. "I'm not feeling so good, doc…"

"Small wonder." Doctor Chakwas quickly found the last vacant bed and directed the others to lay him down there. "Looks like the medigel has quelled the hemorrhaging, but the damage is still extensive." Working swiftly, she checked his pulse while one of the medics helped Mordin with removing the remnants of armor strapped onto Shepard's beaten frame to get a good bead on his injuries. "He'll need a transfusion…" She said, turning to one of their aides. "Please prepare the infusion; we'll need type B+ human blood. The components are all in that compartment over there." She pointed out to a sealed refrigerated shelf in the corner. Dr. Chakwas turned back to Shepard, pulling out her syringe gun. "Heavens, John." She said as she infused a purple concoction into the vein on his left arm. "You're a mess."

And indeed he was; Shepard's body was battered and bruised from a long night of physical abuse. Grime and dried blood caked his skin, which was black and blue from the concussive blows of bullets and impact, and was equally covered in still bleeding cuts and lacerations. If Shepard's grunting and grimacing was any indication, it felt as bad as it looked too.

Dr. Chakwas frowned as she wiped away the grime on his brow. She knew that it wasn't just tonight's recent injuries that ailed Shepard. Throughout the whole Collectors debacle, the commander had been acquiring injury after injury. Most of which were negligible, but others were serious and life threatening. It all added up into a debt that was growing more and more impossible for his body to be able to pay for. But no matter what punishment was inflicted upon him or how many times he had endured punishments, Shepard just kept grinding on like an implacable machine. But even machines wore down after a time, and Shepard was merely a man. "Your body is on hyperdrive even though you've pushed well past your limits." She began, "Most likely your implants are still churning out adrenaline because of all this action. I'll need to sedate you to ensure that you can sleep."

"No!" Shepard blurted out, weakly grabbing her hand and pushing it away. "No sedatives…. I don't intend to spend the night here." He said, much more composed as he let her go. "There's something going on in Omega… Something we have to look into."

"Commander, look at you! I insist that you take the shot and that we take you and the rest of the injured back to the Citadel for further treatm-" There was a loud bang followed by the sound of instruments falling to the floor as Aria kicked down the small table next to her.

"Nobody's going anywhere as far as I'm concerned!" Aria snarled. "You promised to help me get my station back, Shepard! I will hold you to that promise, even if I have to bust a few heads around here to-!"

Shepard suddenly sat up, propping himself on his elbows to look Aria directly in the eyes. "Get a hold of yourself, Aria! I will not tolerate threats against my crew on my ship!" He said, his eyes burning with the look of a man who's been through hell and couldn't care less what else life was planning to throw at him next. Aria stared him down, just barely keeping herself steady against the primal rage behind those eyes. She was prepared to hold her ground if it came to it, but Shepard broke off from their little staring contest first to speak to Mordin. "Mordin, is there anyone needing critical care that we can't provide for on the Normandy?"

"Hmm?" Mordin said, perking up from cleaning Shepard's wounds as if he wasn't paying attention to the scene around him. "All patients are in stable condition. We have enough medication and equipment to care for them for several weeks if need be."

"And there you have it." Shepard said, much to Dr. Chakwas' chagrin at the situation. "Tell Joker to taxi around the debris field, we aren't going anywhere anytime soon."

Dr. Chakwas rolled her eyes. "You're condoning this choice of action, Dr. Solus?"

"I'm a doctor, not a keeper, Dr. Chakwas." Mordin replied, getting back to work. "Besides, I have my own interests for staying; still want to check on my clinic now more than ever. Bad blood with Blue Suns. Expecting the worse."

"I…" Dr. Chakwas said, at a loss for words, rubbing her temples. She turned to Shepard, a tired look in her eyes. "It's your ship, commander. I'll patch you up, but please do understand that I can't bring back the dead." She said, cleaning his arm in order to inject him. "I'll follow your orders, but I only have one condition."

"… And that is?" Shepard asked.

"8 hours. All I ask from you is that you sleep for 8 hours." Dr. Chakwas said sternly. "If you continue on at your pace without stopping, you will burn out and you will die. This I can assure you, John." She took out her syringe gun again and positioned it over his arm. "Commander, this is all I ask of you; do you agree to my one condition?"

Shepard looked into Dr. Chakwas' eyes, her visage was commanding, but her gaze was pleading. "Agreed." He relented, and almost immediately the needle plunged into his flesh. "Easy!"

"I hope so. Now hold still." She mused. "This sedative is a mild one. It will take a few minutes to take effect and it will assure deep, well-rested sleep. Don't fight it."

Aria squinted at him as the commander gingerly laid back down. "You better be playing me straight, Shepard. Hell has no fury like a woman scorned, and a queen is much more severe."

Shepard waved his hand, "I already… gave you my word." The reply was seemingly sufficient as Aria kept her silence. Shepard however was not done talking. "Aria…" He said, making her turn towards him, staring at him with those haughty eyes. "What can you tell me about Tarrana Ionet?"

"Tarrana?" she scoffed. "Huh, what about Tarrana?"

"Everything you know." Shepard said while activating his omnitool and projecting a holovid he recorded during his brush with the Eclipse commander. "But you can start around the part where she's a shape shifting monstrosity."

Aria's mask of indifference broke as she watched the recording of Tarrana transforming into a monstrous beast. "What in the name of the goddess?" she said as the vid played on.

She wasn't the only one who was staring; just about everyone else who was conscious in the medbay was frozen in place, their attentions turned towards the disturbing vid. Dr. Chakwas was whispering something under her breath while Mordin merely scratched his chin, keenly observing the vid.

Aria was watching, but still had trouble grasping what she was seeing. "What am I looking at here, Shepard?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Shepard replied. "My gut tells me that there's more to this coup than a simple power grab. She mentioned being the 'father's favorite child', or something similar to that."

"Father? I doubt she's talking about her parent." Aria said, "A cult maybe? I've dealt with my fair share here on Omega…"

Mordin chimed in, eyes still analyzing the vid. "Interesting." He said, completely engrossed in his observations. "We encountered an asari shortly before you arrived; she called herself Melina. Subject displayed peak physical and biotic capacity as well as unprecedented regenerative capabilities. She literally rose from the dead." Mordin activated his own omnitool and projected a vid recording of his own. The vid showed another asari, an Eclipse commando, duking it out with Samara. ". Shortly thereafter, she too exhibited mutation, but she exhibited more of… a feral nature, as compared to the intelligence displayed by this Tarrana."

"Yeah, I was going to bring up that thing Grunt was fighting when we arrived." Shepard said. "Whatever's going on, it can't be good. If only there was some way we could discern what they are, we might have a clue as to what was going on…"

"Ah, but actually there is." Mordin replied, "Took a subject for autopsy during the scuffle. Not sure whether it would yield anything interesting, however."

"So you're saying you've seen one of these asari commados _resurrect_ from the dead, and you still brought one of their corpses with us?" Shepard asked, eyebrow raised.

"Not to worry, have it in stasis field." Mordin dismissed, "Still, insulting that you would imply I've overlooked such details."

"Uh, sorry?" Shepard replied, his vision starting to swirl. The medication must be kicking in, he concluded. "Finish up here and begin examining that body, ASAP. It might give us some clu-." He stopped midsentence as his head fell down on the pillow, a snore coming from his mouth; the sedative had suddenly brought him into the clutches of unconsciousness.

Dr. Chakwas shook her head as she pulled a blanket over Shepard's battered form. "I thought he'd never succumb to the sedative." She mused, she looked around the medbay before turning to Mordin. "It would seem we have everything under control here, Doctor Solus." She said, "I suppose you'll be heading for the lab now?"

Mordin nodded, heading for the door. "Will only be a call away if you need me."

"What I need is some damned liquid courage…" Karin Chakwas lamented to herself as Mordin stepped out of the medbay. Grabbing some cotton balls and anti-septic, she began the long, meticulous process of cleaning Shepard's wounds. "What a night this turned out to be."

Aria snorted. "You're one to talk."

* * *

><p>War drums.<p>

The intense beat of his own pulse raging through his veins pounded in his head as Gemini staggered down the hallway, careful not to slip on the blood of the men he had just butchered. He clutched his head, throbbing with pain as he tried in vain to fight off the inevitable. The voices were coming back to plague him, hungry and craving for more violence.

"No no no no no no…" He muttered to himself like a mantra. His head throbbed, his vision shook and the beating of the drums heralded their arrival. With a snarl, he punched the wall crumpling the steel frame under his fist. He must not succumb to them now, not when he was this close. So very, very close.

The old man that spoke in his head had promised him answers to his questions and to silence the voices. Was he mad? Considering the previous statement, probably, but he'd take any chance he's given at this point. Anything was better than succumbing to the voices again.

_Again? _

Why did he say again?

It was just all too confusing for him to comprehend right now.

His memory was hazy. Images of the past were veiled from his mind's eye in a thick mist. He was there, in the middle of all the chaos. He was on the Citadel, swarming with geth and other horrible monstrosities. The fighting was everywhere, and he knew he had an important part to play to save everybody. He really couldn't remember anything else past that point.

Save everybody.

Yes, everybody. Their faces were blurred, but he saw them. A quarian, an asari, a turian, a krogan, and two humans; one still living, the other tragically dead. Yes, they were his comrades, his friends. He couldn't remember their names or anything else about them, but he just knew they were his friends.

That was his goal wasn't it? He was no psychopath, no mindless killer. He was a hero and he wanted to save everybody. But why did killing feel so good? Damn it, it was all too confusing for him. Why couldn't he remember anything else?

He remembered the nights he was still bound in that hellish tube of a prison. The dreams he had, so vivid and real they seemed. Like stepping into a whole new world, watching as events transpired around him. The memories of the Citadel were only a small foot note. There was more, but it was as if he was reading a book with some of its pages torn off, jumping from one scene to the other so abruptly and without any explanation.

_Destruction…_

"Oh no…" he whispered to himself as the word echoed in the back of his mind. "No more, please." He pleaded. "Who are you?"

_We are destruction made manifest. You do not please us._

"Big deal, I don't like any of you either." He replied.

_What you like has little to do with this. You do not please us, but you must not listen to Him._

Gemini stopped in his tracks. He realized that this was the first time the voices were so coherent and even bothered replying to him. "Who are you talking about?" He asked. "Who is this 'him'?"

_He is the enemy. He will be the end of everything._

"That makes him no different from you." He replied. "My memory maybe shoddy, but I think I know what you are."

_Our destruction serves purpose. It maintains the balance. You cannot have beginnings without endings. He seeks to destroy this balance we have worked so hard to maintain. His plans will lead to the end of all things. The entire galaxy will lie dead and decaying. Life shall be extinguished, and only a crude parody of it shall flourish. We freed you from your prison in order to carry out our will. Kill them all, or all life will be lost._

"You freed me? How? What balance? Tell me more!"

_Kill them all…_

"Not until you tell me more!"

_KILL THEM ALL!_

The mental screaming brought him to his knees, clutching his head in agony. Blood dribbled down from his nose as Gemini grit his teeth, trying to weather the telepathic assault. The runes on his skin glowed, burning dangerously with power. "Get out of my head!" he roared.

_KILL THEM ALL!_

"I said…" he started, getting back up to his feet. Power crackled around him, snapping in the air. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!"

An explosion of orange light bloomed around him, scorching the surroundings in a wave of energy. He felt the tendrils in his mind still there, but the grip was 'loosened' somewhat. He had sent them reeling, but they'd be back. He walked on, hoping to reach the doctor before that could happen. Still, their message perturbed him. What could the voices, these malevolent gods of death, possibly be scared of?

* * *

><p>Garrus leaned against the wall of the main batteries as he sat on his cot, taking care not to stress his injuries. Between the crash of the Kodiak and the firefight with the Eclipse, it was a long night. His wounds have been freshly bandaged by the medics and he nursed an ice pack to his bruised head.<p>

"Man, what a night." He mused to himself, reaching underneath the cot and pulling out a small silver case. Flipping the locks open, the top opened with a hiss of depressurization. Taking his visor, he placed it gently back into the container, snapping the lid shut afterwards. He cringed as he accidentally over extended his leg, making his wounds hurt. The medics were amazed none of his bones were broken, just bruised and battered, but still in one piece. Doesn't mean it hurt any less though. His wounds were quickly cleaned and sutured, and they kicked him out of the medbay to make room for the more seriously injured.

His cot wasn't luxurious, but it was far better than most surfaces he's slept on in the past. And it has never looked more inviting or comfortable than it did now. He knew a few hours of sleep were not nearly enough to make him feel better, but it was a start. Not that he could sleep right now.

Today was just another fine exercise in disaster. They'd come out of it alive but just barely, really. He was supposed to have been the commander in Shepard's absence, but his decisions only compromised the Normandy as a whole. Sure they were alive, but there must have been a better way that he couldn't see. Jack and Samara were beaten damn near to death, and his joy ride with Joker almost killed the latter and put Kasumi's life at risk, not to mention compromising the operation by not being there to lead. He really could have done a lot of things much better.

Damned if he knew what the better way could have been, though. He really wasn't cut out for this whole squad leader thing, he supposed. Lying down on his cot, he stared blankly up at the ceiling, looking at nothing in particular.

"So tell me, why the hell aren't you in the medbay?"

Garrus didn't even bother to look for the source of the disembodied voice. Her scent was masked, but he could still whiff traces of it. It still somehow made his blood boil. "I could ask you the same thing, Kasumi." He replied, still staring upwards. "And for your information, yes I have been to the medbay. Nothing too major, surprisingly. How about you?"

"I've been taped up like a mummy underneath my suit." She said fizzling into view as the cloak wore off. "I'm also hopped up on pain meds, but otherwise mostly unscathed." She stepped towards him and took a seat at the foot of his cot. Garrus gulped as her rear brushed his foot, which he casually moved away from contact. "I tried to visit Jack and the others, but Doc Chakwas insisted that no visitors allowed, so I figured I'd just loiter nearby just in case. They are stable for the time being, though."

"That's good to hear." Garrus said, propping himself up on his elbows to talk to her, genuinely relieved that the pair of biotics were alright. "Your room is just down the hall from the medbay too, you know? Why stay here?"

"Eh, it reeks of stale alcohol and vomit in there." She shrugged. Garrus laughed at the realization that nobody must have had the time to clean up the lounge what with everything happening. "Hey, that's just mean. The smell might stick to all of my stuff!" she pouted.

"Well maybe you should have thought of that when you decided to set up your bedroom in the bar." Garrus replied with an amused grin etched on his face.

"It seemed like a great idea at the time!" Kasumi retorted, hands thrown up in the air. Man, Garrus thought, she wasn't kidding when she said she was hopped up on pain meds. "And what are you grinning at? I'm still mad at you."

"Well I didn't exactly ask you to come here, you know?"

"Well too bad." Kasumi scoffed, twiddling her fingers anxiously, clearing her throat. "I don't like big crowds. Sure it's easy to blend in with a lot of people around you, but I'm not exactly on a heist right now. It also doesn't help that I don't know most of them out there."

"Yeah, but if they work for Liara, they're fine by me." Garrus dismissed.

"Still… Would you mind if I crashed here for a bit?"

"That's up to you. Think you can stand being in the same room with me?" Garrus asked. Forget that, he thought, what about him? With her being this close, her scent was filling up the room. Her hood was pushed back; a bandaged wrapped around her forehead, showing most of her face under the light, a stray lock of her black hair coming into view. For human standards, heck for most species' standards, she was definitely beautiful. Shame that she always felt the need to keep it obscured, even among themselves.

"I guess I could make an exception." She said, flashing him a quick grin. "I suppose it's the least I can do for somebody I've saved and been saved by time and time again." She and Garrus shared a quiet chuckle at that, and she leaned back against the wall. "You've been…acting a bit strange lately." She said casually.

"Eh?" Garrus said. He wasn't that obvious, was he? "What are you talking about?" he replied, keeping his cool.

"Oh I don't know…" Kasumi said, letting the statement linger. "You seem to be rather… overprotective of me recently."

"As opposed to what? Letting you die on my watch?" Garrus said, laughing it off. "That'd make me look bad."

"Trust me, Vakarian." She replied amusedly, arching an eyebrow. "You don't need any help in order to look bad."

"Ooh, Harsh." Garrus said, reflexively rubbing a hand on his scar. "Hey now, a lot of women like men with scars. Most of them are krogan, sure, but I work with what I got."

Kasumi laughed. "I like men with scars." she said suddenly.

"If you're going to come in here just to make fun of me, I might as well start charging tic-" Garrus said, stopping mid-sentence. "Wait, what?"

* * *

><p>Oh no.<p>

Oh no, no, no, no.

Did she just-?

She didn't, did she?

Judging by the puzzled, expectant expression on Garrus' face, she probably did. "Errr…" Well, she deserved a pat on the back. Not every day that she could juice the awkwardness meter up to eleven. She didn't know what impetus possessed her to think that coming up into his quarters was a good idea, let alone what made her blurt out those words for that matter. Well, he wasn't going to go away she realized. Clearing her throat, she snickered, pulling her hood down and trying to mask the red filling her cheeks. "I'm just messing with you." She said, trying to save face. "Not that I think you look bad at all, no…" she added. Geez, why was it that every word she said felt like a nail being hammered into her coffin?

"Well…" Garrus replied, his tone seemed awkward, much to her dismay. "That's a relief, I suppose."

She looked at the door from the corners of her vision, trying to make up a reason to excuse herself from this mess she had made. This was probably just another rebound phase that she was going through, same as with Jacob. But… this felt different. Not that it made her feel any better about it. God, he wasn't even human! Not that there was anything wrong about aliens, but she always thought of herself as a one-species kind of gal. Why did she come up here again? Screw it, she should just leave now. "Hey, um… you're tired, and well… maybe I should just go and-."

Before she could get up, she felt a rough hand gently grab onto hers. She turned her head to see Garrus had sat up, holding onto her hand. "Wait." He said.

What the hell was he doing? She thought, color rising on her cheeks.

* * *

><p>What the hell was he doing? Garrus asked himself, feeling the warmth of her skin through her gloves. The prior action was spontaneous, a reflex to her leaving. He didn't really have a plan of action for what comes next. He internally face-palmed.<p>

Typical Garrus, smooth operator.

He could sense her squirming where she sat now. The awkward silence stretched and Garrus was fumbling for something, anything, to say. He felt her other hand gently pry away his grip on her, her eyes refusing to look him in the face. Before he could utter a word however, Kasumi broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, Garrus." She said as she stood up. "This was a- I should go." And Garrus just sat there, watching her as she disappeared, all words in his vocabulary virtually useless. A few moments later, and even the traces of her scent was gone.

"Spirits." he groaned, lying flat on his back. What a mess this was. He just laid there, staring at the ceiling, wondering what the hell came over him. There was something about Kasumi, he just couldn't figure out what it was.

* * *

><p>What was once the Torvias Brothers Shipyard was now a wrecked hole on the side of Omega. The sudden depressurization from the Normandy's escape tore the shipyard inside out, venting everything and everyone into the void of space. Well, most everything and everyone. Among the floating bodies and debris, dozens of yellow armored figures slowly started to stir and prowl the wreckage.<p>

Aliyah Tessarn double checked her suit's integrity as she tried to orient herself into the sudden loss of gravity. Her magnetic boots kept her feet firmly planted on the floor as she rebooted her armor's systems. It was a good thing she had kept her helmet on when she did. The hermetically sealed yellow armor was the only thing that saved her from death. She was thankful, not wanting to die at the young age of 160. Maybe it was time to reevaluate her career choices. A ping on her HUD informed her that her suit systems were operating at optimum capacity, and her omnitool flared up to life. Well, she thought as she pushed aside a floating corpse who didn't have the foresight to keep his helmet on, time to see if anybody else survived this disaster.

"This is Sgt. Tessarn, anybody out there still alive, over?" She said over the open channel. Her comm crackled as a garbled reply came through.

"Need help, sending coordinates." The panicked voice replied.

"What? Who is this?" Aliyah asked, downloading the said coordinates to her omnitool and suit radar.

"Need help, please." The voice persisted.

"Copy that, en route." Aliyah replied, making her way to the location marked on her radar. "What's your status?" There was no reply, but Aliyah decided to press on as the location was nearby.

Navigating through the floating debris, she travelled deeper into the wrecked shipyard, surprised that she hasn't encountered anybody else yet She checked her frequency and made sure she was on the open channel. "This is Sgt. Tessarn, I'm moving in to recover some casualties. Does anyone else copy, over?" The only reply that came was static. Shit, she thought, she couldn't have been the only one left alive.

She came upon the twisted wreckage of a truck, one of the ones that were harassing them earlier. Aliyah reached for her rifle and cocked it; could the distress signal have come from one of their enemies? Walking up to an opening in the hull, she raised her rifle and activated her LED torch, illuminating the darkness. "Hello? This is Sgt. Tessarn, is anybody alive in their?"

Her comms crackled, and the same garbled voice came through. "Aliyah? Thank goodness you've come…"

She stopped in her tracks, recognizing the voice. "My lady?"

"Yes… it's my lucky day." The voice replied. Suddenly, several tentacles shot from the darkness, wrapping around Aliyah violently, wresting the gun from her. The tentacles coiled down tightly, and Aliyah felt her bones strain from the pressure, unable to scream from the constriction crushing her lungs. "You're just my size, too." Without further ado, the helpless Aliyah was pulled into the darkness' gaping maw, all life being squeezed out of her.

* * *

><p>Several minutes later, a feminine figure wearing disheveled Eclipse armor stepped out into the light, readjusting the armors rather tight fit on her curvy frame. Tarrana frowned, maybe she had misjudged when she said Aliyah was her size. But there were other, more pressing matters to attend to at the moment. First things first, she installed her personal OS into the armor's cpu and integrated her dual omnitools into it as well. Activating her radar, she scanned the area for any more of her surviving troops, earning a surprising amount of pings all around her, each marking a survivor. Poor Aliyah couldn't find anybody else since Tarrana had been jamming her signal when she had made contact with her. The poor girl was just at the right place at the wrong time.<p>

A ping notified her that her upgrades to the armor's initially lackluster OS had been completed. Licking her lips, she log into the Eclipse's open channel and spoke. "Attention, this is Commander Ionet to all surviving troopers. I expect that you will find your way back to our HQ." She began, her musical voice resonating through the communicators of all the Eclipse left still standing. "If I do not find you at the base, I expect you to be dead, yes-yes?" She continued. "And if I discover you are still alive and you did not report back… Well, I will have to rectify that now won't I? Move out, darlings." A cacophony of replies came back to her, and Tarrana smiled with amusement as she cut off the frequency.

Turning around, she regarded the twisted wreckage of the truck and licked her lips again. "Shepard…" She whispered darkly, folding her arms over her chest. "My, my, what a man he is. Now I understand why the Patriarch so badly wants to kill him." she giggled. "Oh my, this makes me want to kill him, too. I think I might have a crush."

She was interrupted from her musings when her HUD notified her of an incoming transmission. Tarrana groaned when she saw who iot was from. "Oh dear, I hope this turn of events doesn't upset him TOO much." She murmured before accepting the transmission. "Patriarch, my dear darling beloved big brother! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Skip the pleasantries. I need a status report, Tarrana." The Patriarch replied gruffly. "Have you dealt with the Normandy yet?"

"Oh, about that…" she began, giggling girlishly. "They… may have gotten… away."

"They… what?" The patriarch replied slowly.

Tarrana rolled her eyes as she muted the audio, watching the audio spike on her HUD from the Patriarch's profanity laced yelling. A good two minutes passed by before the audio seemed to settle, and Tarrana unmuted the Patriarch, tuning in midsentence.

"-warned you of what might happen! Why couldn't you just follow orders? No… you had to have it your way! Now Shepard is somewhere out there, and his ship and crew are fully intact!" he snarled through the comm. "Can you even begin to imagine what he could do to get in our way? Can you? You materialistic, self-entitled brat!"

"Calm yourself, brother." Tarrana replied sweetly.

"Calm myself? CALM MYSELF?! I could kill you for this, woman!"

"Kill me?" Tarrana replied, unperturbed. "You and I both know that would be just a waste of effort."

"I can damn well try! You're a disgrace to the Father's blessings!"

"Sshhh, come on then, I know you're upset, so let it all out, big brother…" Tarrana cooed. The Patriarch panted, seemingly out of breath from his tirade. "All done then? Good. All is not lost, brother. I have a plan…"


	29. Messiah Complex

Chapter 28: Messiah Complex

* * *

><p>The Patriarch's heavy foot-falls threatened to dent through the steel flooring of the halls in the Omega Blue Suns HQ as he stomped his way to the medical wing. He exuded a palpable aura of unbridled rage that made all in his way quickly step aside, hoping that they do not become the subject of said rage.<p>

Several hours ago, he was contacted by his 'sister', Tarrana Ionet, more widely known as the commander of the Eclipse. She had brought him the news that not only had she failed in destroying the Normandy, but that the ship had escaped along with Commander John Shepard.

Needless to say, that last part made him very, very upset.

Fortunately for Tarrana, she had come up with a plan to rectify the situation. A plan that arguably benefited him with his other troubles as well, he reluctantly admitted. The count down from the Illusive Man's ultimatum was slowly ticking away, and he was making little to no progress in his search. He needed to make noise. Noise enough to mask their true intentions even further. This 'War for Omega' was a slap fight, he scoffed. Something needed to happen to up the stakes and intensify the violence. What he needed was somebody ruthless and barbaric enough to turn this slap fight into a real war. Fortunately, he knew just the man who could make that happen.

Unfortunately, said man was in the medical wing, paralyzed from the neck down and living only through life support.

A mere set-back, the Patriarch thought.

The Patriarch rounded the corner and passed through the doors that housed the medical wing, the guards who were stationed there were quick to get out of his way. The facility was sizable, even if it only spanned one level, capable of going up against most hospitals on Omega with their state of the art equipment and in house medical personnel. Not that that was saying much. But from what the Patriarch could see, it was more of a charnel house than a place of healing. The screams of pain of the critically injured, as well as the frantic barking of doctors in their blood splattered uniforms, rose above the quiet groans of agony of the recovering patients who were strewn about on makeshift cots all over the floor. The place was bustling with more activity than it was designed for as the beleaguered medical team treated dozens of Blue suns troopers well past the capacity of the facility.

One of the doctors, an older human man, caught sight of him and immediately approached the Patriarch. "Ah, Patriarch. I understand that you are here to see the commander." He began, wiping his bloody hands on a rag. "Follow me, please." The Patriarch merely nodded, following the doctor without a word as they made their way past the maze of bodies all around them.

He was led deeper into the facility, leaving behind the wounded grunts and into an empty hallway lined with private rooms for the officers of the Blue Suns. The doctor stopped in front of one of the doors, flashing his omnitool to unlock and open it.

It was a small room with only one occupant, who was currently lying on a bed surrounded by various life support devices and numerous IV infusions running down from tubes overhead. The man's head stirred at the intrusion, but was otherwise immobile. He groaned, what may have been words coming out as gurgled murmurs thanks to the oxygen tube jammed down his throat, forcing air into his lungs.

"Here we are… His injuries were extensive, but we managed to just barely stabilize his condition. Medical science has only come so far." The doctor began, walking into the room and inviting the Patriarch to follow suit. "I believe you have already met Intensive Care Patient number 7, better known as Commander Lucas Miller." He said as the Patriarch stepped inside.

The Patriarch couldn't help but nod his head approvingly at the sight. Aria was always nothing but thorough. "Thank you, doctor." The since then silent krogan boomed suddenly, almost making the doctor jump in surprise. "Leave us."

"But I-…" the doctor began to say, only to be silenced by the Patriarch's piercing glare. "Of course, sir." He corrected himself, hurriedly backing away to the door. "Please, take as much time as you need." The old human nearly tripped over himself in panic, eventually making it outside and closing the door behind him, leaving the Patriarch alone with his patient.

The Patriarch scoffed before turning his attention back to Miller. "Hello, Lucas." He said walking up to Miller's bedside. "The doctors told me all about your injuries. It was a bit long-winded, truth be told, but I do remember the parts about the irreversible paralysis and the permanent dependency on life-support. After what Aria did to you, most people would have thought of you dead. But, you are still alive, if you can call this living, anyway." He laughed, watching the man struggle as much as he could in this state. "Shame. The greatest battle Omega has ever seen, and here you are, stuck in the sidelines. Meanwhile, the other commanders lead the show on your turf, hogging glory that should have been rightfully yours. How the very station shakes from this warfare! Can you feel it? Can you feel it, helplessly strapped down to that bed?"

Miller let out more incoherent gurgles, his head lolling about to and fro, as if trying his hardest to reply to the patriarch. But try as he might, the only thing that came out of his mouth was more gurgling.

"Sorry, I didn't quite catch that last part. Maybe you should speak up some more?" The Patriarch replied, casually inspecting the devices that were keeping Miller alive as the man groaned in protest. "As enjoyable as it is to torture you like this, I'm actually here on business. I'd appreciate it if you took some time from staring blankly at the ceiling to hear me out."

The Patriarch started to pace around the bedside, arms behind his back. "Look at you." He snorted. "Yes, right now, you're certainly wondering why I didn't let you die. Why, indeed? Most people would have chosen death over what you're going through." He paused. "Let me be blunt: You being mauled by Aria was very fortunate for me in the long run. You see, now you're my little insurance policy."

* * *

><p>For the love of hell, will he ever shut up? Miller could only roll his eyes, occasionally choking on the tube down his throat as the Patriarch went on and on about some kind of grand plan. See, this was the problem with those types with the thirst for power. They get so wrapped up on some kind of vision or big plan that they think they're something special. And boy do they love to tell everybody about it. They act all high and mighty, like some kind of demigod gracing mere mortals with their pompous presence.<p>

As for him? Well, Miller was a simple guy. All he ever wanted was money and women, and usually the best way to get both was with a little applied violence. And Miller was very, very good with applying violence. So good in fact, that he made a living out of it, quickly rising up the ranks of the Blue Suns and eventually rising up as commander of its Omega chapter. Vido Santiago liked to call the Blue Suns private military contractors or security consultants. That's just a fancy way of saying 'organized group of thugs'.

God, the old krogan is going on and on. Maybe he did really die and this was hell. It's kind of disappointing, really, because of the severe lack of devil bitches. Not to mention that he can't have a boner anymore. God damn it.

Suddenly, his view of the ceiling was blocked by the Patriarch's face looming over him.

"Hmmm, you _can_ still understand me, can't you?" The Patriarch began. "The doctors said nothing about brain damage."

Miller wanted to tell the old man to go fuck himself, but all he could do was groan gutturally. Huh, maybe if the Patriarch believed he _was_ brain damaged, he'd shut the fuck up.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose." The Patriarch concluded. "One of two things is going to happen before I leave this room, Miller. Both of which are things you want very much to happen."

Miller was wondering what the old fart was talking about when the Patriarch suddenly grabbed him by the neck with one hand and pulled out the tube in his throat with the other. He felt the tube scrape and cut the inside of his throat on its way out, tasting blood mixed with his pooling drool. He tried speaking, but his voice box was still fucked up, leaving him to babble incoherently. The patriarch pulled him up to a sitting position, his arms hanging limply to his sides.

"How pitiful." The Patriarch chided, tossing the tube aside. Miller's face started to turn blue as he gasped for breath, too weak to breathe on his own without the respiratory intubator. "Bear the pain, Miller, it's about to get much, much worse."

Miller's eyes went wide as the Patriarch's free hand started to squirm unnaturally. His palm started to swell like a bubble; his scaly hide stretched to its limit, until it burst in a small cloud of blood and flesh. The flesh underneath was pulsating, and a long, bony spine erupted from the gaping wound.

"Normally, the process needs to be imbued from Father himself." The Patriarch began casually, as if nothing about this scene was surreal or terrifying. "But we Children can bestow his blessing unto others, albeit on a much more limited scale. Not enough to turn you into my brother, but still enough for my purposes to be served."

Drawing back his clawed hand, the Patriarch stabbed Miller in the chest with the spine, piercing his heart, blood splattering everywhere. Miller knew he shouldn't be able feel pain from the neck down anymore, but for some reason his chest burned with agony.

"I am loaning you a portion of my strength." The Patriarch said. "You will either die in unbearable pain, or you will be reborn into something greater. For both our sakes, I hope it is the latter."

The skin around Miller's wound started to burn, literally, as the smell of cooking human flesh started to fill the room. He wanted to scream in agony but nothing came out of his mouth, not even the gurgling moans. The heat was filling him up, unbearable and intense. It swelled in his chest until he felt it start to spread across his body, flowing through his veins.

The pain was indescribable, but it did not kill him. Instead, it allowed him to linger in torment. Miller grabbed the Patriarch's arm, trying to pull the spine from out of his heart. Struggle as he might, the old krogan easily overpowered him. He had to get some leverage over-.

Wait.

Miller pushed the pain aside for the moment and looked at both of his hands, perforated by the many intravenous lines stuck to him. He flexed his fingers then closed them so tight that his knuckles cracked and turned white. They hurt like hell, but he could move them again. "What the fuck is this?"

"Ah, you're still alive. That is a good sign." The Patriarch commended. The old krogan started to slowly pull his arm away from the wound on Miller's chest. But like a bee abandoning its stinger, the spine remained lodged in his heart, bloody strings of sinew snapping as it tore away from the Patriarch's hand. The wound started to sizzle, glowing with strange energies as it closed. "It would appear that Father's cells have accepted you, for now."

"Who is this… father?" Miller said weakly, his voice slowly coming back to him. "What… What did you do to me?"

"Does it matter?" The Patriarch replied.

"No. I guess not." He said, still trying to take in what was happening to him. "So, what happens now?" This was unbelievable. He could move again. He could feel again. He could fuck again. And even better, he could kill again!

"Now?" The Patriarch laughed darkly. "Now we're going to make you the Commander of the entire Blue Suns. For starters…"

"And now what makes you so sure I'm just going to dance to your tune?" He replied cockily. "I could just- urk!" Like a puppet being cut from its strings, Miller fell limply back on the bed, his body insensate and immobile.

"An excellent question." The Patriarch replied, watching Miller start to gasp for breath. "Like I said, this power I bestowed upon you was a loan. A loan I can take back anytime I want to."

"Alright, you made your point! I just wanted to be clear on the details…!" Miller struggled to say. And just like that, he could move again. "Okay…" He panted, trying to reorient himself. "So, you want me to kill the others?"

"Is that a problem?"

"Problem? It's practically a dream job. It already sounds like a good time." He said, unceremoniously pulling the IV lines out of his arms. Miller grinned psychotically as the wounds slowly sizzled and closed, just like the one on his chest. Whatever the Patriarch did to him, he was starting to like it a lot. "Heh, now isn't that just something?"

"Indeed."

"I'm not going to lie to you; I don't know what the fuck is going on and I've had drug trips that weren't as freaky as this." He announced. "But if I'm going to go along with this, I'm going to need my gear and about several tons of explosives."

"I figured you might." The Patriarch said, activating his omnitool. "It's already taken care of, so let me get you up to speed on what's been happening while you were indisposed…"

* * *

><p>The streets of Omega were usually bustling with life. But tonight, death was taking the center stage. Gunfire and explosions rang out in the night, tailed with the screams and battle cries of soldiers on both sides as the united mercenary forces did battle against Aria's pirates. The dead were quickly piling up on both sides as they fought with tooth and nail. They fought in the cramped corridors, in the open plazas, in the maintenance shafts, on the rooftops and catwalks, all jostling for control of what little territory they could manage to capture and recapture. Wrecked vehicles and just about anything that can withstand direct gunfire were used as hastily erected fortifications, garrisoning soldiers and heavy weapons emplacements, serving as small islands of relative sanctuary in the storm of bullets.<p>

"This is Capt. Gavorn to all units, stand fast!" Praitor Gavorn willed his men as he unloaded with his sniper rifle, taking cover behind an overturned car. "Regroup on my position! We can't let them through!"

"It's no use, Captain!" His salarian lieutenant, Hazzik, yelled over the gunfire, "They're overrunning the Feraz and Gozer districts! Only be a matter of time until they outflank us!"

"I'll be the judge of that, you hear me?!" He roared, "Take four squads and deal with it, Hazzik! Do whatever it takes; just don't let them past you!"

"Yes sir!" Hazzik saluted reluctantly.

"Go!" Gavorn commanded, swinging out of cover to give Hazzik some cover fire as he gathered the men he needed. His sniper rifle clicked empty and he discarded it without a thought, pulling out his vindicator assault rifle instead. "You want some of me?! Come on!" he taunted, gunning down trooper after trooper.

The battle was taking a turn for the worse as the Suns advanced deeper and deeper into the sector. Until the forces in the other sectors could establish a foothold, Gavorn and his men were the last bastion of defense before the mercs could spill out into the inner hive of Omega that was still (mostly) under Aria's loyalist forces control. If that were to happen, the fighting would only become bloodier and the advantage would go towards the mercenaries.

Gavorn's fears were confirmed when a voice yelled over the open frequency of the communicator. It was the one word he didn't want to hear at this point. "Tanks!"

"Son of a-!" he swore, seeing two six wheeled armored vehicles roll in from around the corner in the distance. Gavorn quickly identified them as light assault tanks, but nothing was 'light' about the payload they carried. Their main batteries swung around, aiming large cannon turrets in their general direction. "Duck and cover!" he announced, diving flat on the ground just a half second before cannon fire split the air. Body parts and scrap metal were sent flying as the tanks shelled their position.

Gavorn crawled behind cover past the corpses of two unlucky men, barking commands over his communicator as he shielded his face from the debris. "All heavies, the tanks are your main priorities! Sharpshooters, take out the gunners and infantry support! Aim for the view ports when you can!" he ordered, directing his men into firing positions. "Squads 3 and 7, you're in prime position to outflank them! Move, people!"

There was a series of hisses in the air as several rocket launchers unleashed their fury on the tanks, taking out the light armored vehicles in a chain of vicious explosions.

"Target down!" one voice called out.

"Direct hit!" said another.

Gavorn reloaded his guns, peering out of cover to view his men's handiwork. The two tanks were now nothing more than smoldering wrecks, the blaze illuminating the area in a dull orange light. "Good job, boys!" he said. "Move up to better firing positions while they regroup!"

"Captain! We've got incoming!" A batarian announced. "Vorcha!"

Gavorn smelled them before he could see them. "Fucking perfect…" He muttered to himself, watching as a wave of ravenous, slobbering vorcha rushed head long towards their lines with wild abandon. These vermin were relentless, and the mercs must be using them as cannon fodder while they regrouped. "Looks like they want some good old fashioned CQC, boys!" he said out loud, drawing out a long bayonet and latching it onto his assault rifle. "Oblige them!"

"Sir, yes sir!" The pirates yelled back, either attaching their own bayonets or wielding a knife in their off hand. Guns blazed even before the wave of vorcha could hit their line, cutting down the enemy by the dozens. But still they charged onwards, trampling over their dead and ignoring their wounds, red eyes glowing with rage.

Gavorn unloaded into the teeming mass of bodies that was quickly drawing closer and closer. "Here they come!" He announced, quickly reloading. "Fuck them up, boys!"

The two sides met head on in a collision of blood and curse words. Time lost all meaning as the battle stretched on for what seemed like days with no end in sight. They weren't losing, but they were far from winning it either.

Gavorn knew that as they are now, they may win this battle, but would most likely lose this war. The pirates of Omega needed their leader. He didn't believe the nasty rumors about her being dead, but her absence was still hurting their cause. Where was Aria T'loak?

* * *

><p>There was a storm coming.<p>

The Illusive Man could feel it in his bones as he stared idly into the cool light of the blue star. The report from General Petrovsky's expedition came back and he was pleased to hear that they had salvaged a substantial amount of Reaper technology. It wasn't the treasure trove he had hoped for, but it was sufficient to kick start his newest venture: Project Novus.

If humanity was to survive what was to come, then Cerberus needed to be ready. They were the forefront of Earth's defense; the vanguard of humans everywhere. If controlled, the Reaper tech could provide them with the edge they needed for the incoming invasion. There was still more salvageable technology to be had in the wreckage of the Collector home world past the Omega Relay. To ensure maximum efficiency, they needed to have a base of operations nearby, and there was not enough time to manufacture a new space station from scratch. One way or another, Omega was going to be that base of operations. The future of humanity depended on it.

He grabbed a glass of bourbon from the small table next to him and gingerly sipped the golden liquid, savoring the fiery sensation slither down his throat. Shepard was too naïve, much to The Illusive Man's disappointment. A sense of honor was the last thing one needed when fighting tooth and nail in a war for survival. Yes, he had to do whatever was necessary, no matter how unsavory it might appear. The Illusive Man didn't care if the present judged him to be a monster or a tyrant, a boogey man to scare little children into behaving. If that is what it took to save mankind, then so be it. It was history who would vindicate him as the savior of the galaxy.

There was a throat being cleared behind him, bringing him back from his thoughts. The Illusive Man didn't need to turn around to know who it was. It was the very personification of the means he was willing to take to achieve his ends. He took another sip of his whiskey before addressing the man. "I hope you have some good news for me."

"The senator seems to have committed suicide after her scandalous exploits were leaked into the extranet." Said the man behind him. "And right before she was about to begin her investigation of Cord-Hislop Aerospace, too."

"Tragic." The Illusive man replied with much satisfaction. The woman was snooping around where she wasn't supposed to, bringing unwanted attention to one of Cerberus' front corporations. That was the trouble with these younger politicians, so full of naïve idealism. He knew that disposing of her kind wasn't enough. They had to discredit everything she stood for; to ruin the image of purity and justice that they often carried with them. "Absolutely tragic."

"Isn't it just? The look on her face was priceless when I showed her the doctored vids…" Kai Leng said, barely holding in a sadistic laugh. "Who knew she had a fetish for young Elcor?"

"Enough." The Illusive man said, turning to face the man. Kai Leng was among the first products of his Project Novus. His body was cybernetically enhanced with numerous tech implants and augmentations, giving him the right tools to be the perfect assassin. However it was Leng's mean streak and cruelty that made the man into the perfect killer long before the cybernetics even touched him. Former N7, dishonorably discharged and savagely unrepentant about it. It made him the perfect candidate as his top assassin. "I have a new assignment for you; one that would require less discretion and give you more freedom and flexibility."

The man stood at attention at the last statement. "Yes sir?" Leng's voice was eager; it wasn't every day that he was offered free reign on his actions.

"I want you to rendezvous with General Oleg Petrovsky in the Terminus systems." He began. "I want you to assist him in taking control of Omega. Kill anybody who leads any form of resistance against Cerberus occupation."

"The Patriarch has betrayed you?"

"No. He hasn't shown his hand yet, but I'd rather have an ace up my sleeve." The Illusive Man replied.

"And what about Shepard?" The eagerness in Leng's voice was almost palpable.

"Your priority is Omega, however if you do encounter him…"The Illusive Man took a deep swig of his drink, downing the remaining contents in one go. "Make an example of him and the entire crew. Just leave me with a body to collect."

The smile on Leng's face was like a child on Christmas Eve. "Of course."

"Your shuttle to General Petrovsky's fleet will leave immediately." The Illusive man continued. "This is a high priority mission. Take Omega at all costs. You're dismissed."

"Sir." Kai Leng replied, saluting the Illusive Man before turning on his heel.

The Illusive Man watched as Kai Leng left the room, pouring himself another glass of bourbon. He knew damn well that he had just unleashed a rabid dog unto Omega. Taking the glass, he downed it in one shot. Whatever it takes, he reminded himself.

Setting aside the glass, he brought up a large holographic interface around him, streaming with data and information. Project Novus was a big part of preparing for the Reaper invasion, but it was not the only one. The Illusive man activated the long range communicator. It was time to check up on his other ventures.

The FTL communicator's interface shimmered to life on the floor in front of him, and a few moments later, Dr. Viktor Zsasz stepped into view. "Hello, Viktor." He said, lighting a cigarette.

"Illusive Man, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Zsasz replied.

"What's the status of Project Gemini?" The Illusive man asked. "I want those clones up and running, Viktor."

"The project is going better than was previously estimated and the subjects are thriving. We are progressing well ahead of schedule, as well." The bearded man said. "You will have your clone army sir, bred from the stock of humanity's finest specimens and imbued with the technical skills of only the most elite soldiers."

"This is good news." The Illusive man said, taking a deep puff of his cigarette and going over the data streaming on his feed. To combat the Reapers, the galaxy will have to be ready with as much hands as possible being capable of dealing with the threat, from logistics to frontline combat. However, with the current stance of the Council and the inaction of most every other species, the galaxy will most likely be caught with their pants down during the initial invasion. Project Gemini was an initiative designed to make a fully trained fighting force to take the worse of the first few months so that the forces of Earth could be given enough time to be ready. The cost of such an undertaking was draining Cerberus funds, but it was a necessary expense. "How soon can I expect the first batch to be ready?"

"A month, we could do so a week earlier, but I'd rather be thorough in my testing." Zsasz said, pacing around the holographic projector. "I must say, you will be quite pleased with the results."

"I'll be the judge of that, Viktor." He replied. Viktor Zsasz was eccentric to the point of lunacy, but his genius was undeniable. The man was one of the pioneers of Cerberus and one of his most trusted associates. That did not mean that he liked the man. "Now what about-?" He was interrupted by blaring alarms over on Zsasz's end. "What was that?"

Zsasz opened his omnitool and smiled. "Duty, and it calls to me."

"Damn it, Viktor, I've no patience for your games."

"Never you mind, sir." Zsasz replied. "Just one of the subjects exerting his free will a little too freely. Because of the importance of our work, we like to treat every little discrepancy with the utmost concern."

"See to it then." The Illusive man conceded, "I expect a full report on the project within the next solar day."

"Of course, sir." Zsasz said, bowing melodramatically. "You'll find that you will be getting more than what you asked for."

"With all your reassurances, Viktor, I hope that you do not disappoint." With a wave of his hands, the transmission ended, leaving him alone once more. Swiveling his chair, the Illusive Man turned back towards the light of the blue star.

There was a storm coming, and even with all this preparation, he could only hope that they were ready for it.

* * *

><p>Dr. Zsasz smiled to himself as he regarded the blaring alarms and the gun fire resonating somewhere in the space station. Goosebumps travelled up his arm as he looked towards the entrance to his dark chambers. Gemini was getting closer and he could barely contain his excitement.<p>

The Illusive Man was shrewd as shrewd can be, no doubt about that, but he was not infallible. His spies in Project Gemini were immediately dealt with, and he has since been feeding him fabricated information about the progress of his clone army. Sadly for him however, there was no clone army to be had. With a bit of subtle misinformation to the rest of the team, all of the resources the project has been given was solely devoted into creating one body, the perfect vessel for which to cultivate the perfect soldier. One that was greater than an entire clone army, sanctified with the blood of the Father.

A savior.

A messiah.

The Reapers, however, proved to be a more cunning enemy to try and outwit. Dr. Zsasz had taken every precaution, but the Reapers still found a way back into Gemini's head. They've somehow overridden Gemini from his slumber and were now using him to try and stop the Father's plans. An impressive feat and he expected nothing less of them. But for machines with the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of countless eons, this was a foolhardy attempt at preventing the inevitable.

Dr. Zsasz walked over to his desk and took a seat behind it, lacing his fingers together and resting his elbows on its surface. His spectacles gleamed orange from the light of his terminals, the only source of illumination in the dark room. The gunfire had stopped now. He would be here any second.

The first thing he heard was the yelling just right outside his door. It was full of pain and suffering. It was punctuated by the sound of something heavy slamming against the metal door, warping it inwardly. There was another yell, this time a bloodied fist punched through the door, burning with unchecked energies.

"You!" Gemini roared at him from the hole he created.

"Me." Zsasz replied nonchalantly. "You could have knocked you know? Or is that what happens when you knock?"

"Shut up!" Gemini yelled back. He grabbed the opposite sides of the hole he made and began to rip apart a larger opening. "The voices! They won't stop! I have to kill you!"

"Come to me then, little brother." Zsasz said soothingly, leaning back on his chair as light started to stream in from outside through the larger hole Gemini was making, cutting through the darkness. "I'll make the voices go away…"

Gemini roared as the metal started to give easier and easier, crumpling under his strength. As soon as the hole was large enough, he hopped through it and immediately lunged at Dr. Zsasz, closing the distance between them with alarming speed. Drawing a fist back, he leapt over the large desk and hurtled towards his target. "DIE!"

* * *

><p>Blood splattered on the walls, but his fist remained an inch shy of Dr. Zsasz's smiling visage.<p>

"well now… It would seem that you missed." Dr. Zsasz chided.

"What?" Gemini asked in disbelief as his body remained suspended in thin air. He felt the burning energies that wrapped around him extinguish. Something was incapacitating him and suppressing his biotics.

Dr. Zsasz leaned back on his chair and casually pointed at Gemini's chest.

Gemini looked down, to see a clawed hand coming out of his chest, piercing him from behind. Oddly enough, it didn't hurt. Did somebody actually, finally, land a fatal blow on him?

"Oh not to worry." Zsasz said, dismissing Gemini's look of astonishment. "You should know by now that something like that won't kill you."

Come to think of it, Gemini thought, the clawed hand with it's three fingers was anything but human. "Who…?"

"Oh where are my manners!" Zsasz said, slapping his forehead as if he had just remembered something. "She was so quiet that I forgot she was here!"

Gemini looked over his shoulders to see a pair of sultry, predatory eyes stare right back at him. "A… Turian?" he asked weakly. What was a turian doing in a Cerberus space station?

"Not just any turian, mind you…" Zsasz said. "She is our sister! Her name is Silence, or at least that is what we call her. You'll find that she doesn't do much talking."

Silence merely blinked back at him, tilting her head to one side as she regarded him curiously. In a fluid motion, she suddenly pulled her arm out of his chest, causing him to slump over the desk, his blood quickly pooling on its surface and spilling over its edge, dribbling onto the floor

The voices in his head were becoming more frantic now. It was like being in the middle of a crowded room where everybody else was panicking and he was being thrown about by the chaos.

They ordered him, no, pleaded with him to move! To do anything! They just wanted him to get out of this situation!

_No! Move, you insect!_

_So close, so close…!_

_You must not let him have his way!_

_KILL THE ALL!_

He gritted his teeth as his head started throb in agony, surprisingly ailing him more than the gaping hole in his chest. He almost didn't notice the two hands grabbing the sides of his head.

"Shhh, fret not, dear brother…" Zsasz whispered consolingly. "Father will protect you."

It was only a trickle at first. A few drops barely rippling into the stormy sea of his mind.

And then the flood gate opened.

Something was surging into his mind, a great gust of wind that seemed to blow away the voices from his head, over powering the storm that was already brewing in there. The voices struggled with all their might, but try as they could, the force sent them hurtling away, echoing their curses into the void. The force was warm and soothing, like somebody had wrapped him up in a reassuring embrace.

Then, like tendrils creeping about, digging its way into the labyrinth of his mind, the force started to wrap itself around the images of his memory. Slowly but steadily, the blank spaces in his head started to fill out.

His name was John Shepard.

Just as he started to grasp this, there were other memories that started to overlay the ones that were already there. These were memories were different. It was like they were being grafted into his head. "No…" he murmured, taking a deep breath before yelling out. "NO!"

Gemini's hand shot up and grabbed an unwitting Zsasz by the neck, choking the man. "What are you doing!"

"My name is John Shepard and I will not be controlled again!" He roared, increasing the pressure of his grip. "Not by the Reapers! Not by Cerberus! And I will definitely not be controlled by a lowly human such as you!"

"Your name is…?" Zsasz started to say, before he slowly started to shake in realization. He then suddenly boomed in laughter, catching Gemini off guard. "Is that what you think, little brother?"

"Stop calling me brother, you worthless human!" Gemini snapped. "I only had one brother, and he is long dead!"

"Stop and think for a second…" Zsasz said, smiling despite the chokehold. "Would John Shepard really call somebody a 'lowly human?'"

"What are you talking about?" Gemini asked.

"It would be better to show you." Zsasz said, grabbing hold of the sides of Gemini's head once more.

The force came back stronger than before, slamming into Gemini's mind with twice power. The mental assault caused him to let go of Zsasz's neck as his mind tried to keep up with what was going on.

"You see, the Reapers were smart to retake you when they did." Zsasz explained to him. "They struck right in the middle of the mental graft, when your brain was the most vulnerable. Technically you are correct. Your body is, for all intents and purposes, John Shepard. A clone of him, anyway. But no, who you truly are is who I am showing you right now."

"Clone…?" Gemini whispered. "Then… These memories… These new ones… They are the ones that are truly mine?"

"Yes." Zsasz confirmed. "Your mind was the only thing we could salvage when you died, being transformed into data thanks to your augmentation by the Reapers. We tried to place it into a cloned body of yourself, but it could not thrive… But Shepard's body was different." He continued. "Shepard's exposure to the Prothean VI had somehow changed him at a genetic level, and your brainwaves resonated with his. I find it, deliciously ironic, don't you, Gemini?"

The temperature in the room slowly started to increase before Gemini was once more enveloped in an aura of crackling energy, sending Zsasz flying into the wall. The wound on his chest sizzled with heat as it started to heal and close itself, the runes etched on his skin shining with light. He turned to see Silence merely sitting on the floor, knees to her chest and staring at him intently.

"Ever since she found out just who you truly were, little brother, Silence just couldn't wait to meet you." Zsasz said, picking himself up from the floor. "Apparently, she's a big fan of you, Gemini."

In a flash, Zsasz was pinned to the wall as Gemini clutched him by the throat. "Do not call me your brother and do not call me Gemini." He snarled. "My name is Saren Arterius. For your sake, I hope you have a better explanation than the one you just gave me."


	30. Memories of The Dead

Chapter 29: Memories of the Dead

* * *

><p>A lifetime ago…<p>

Aboard the Citadel, the Council's chambers.

It was all coming to a climax, he thought. All the grand schemes and bloodshed in the name of his cause was about to bear fruit. Of course, this had to be the point where that bastard would show his face, spoiling his victorious mood.

"You..." He hissed coldly, venom laced in his voice as he stared down the man who has been a thorn in his side for far too long. "You self-important little _pest._" The trees around them burned, filling the chamber with red-orange haze and covering the ceiling with thick, gray smog. "Once again, I find you meddling in my business."

"It's hard not to meddle when your 'business' is putting innocent lives at risk, Saren." Shepard countered, stepping over the fallen Geth he had killed as he and his team approached the stair case leading up to the Council platform. "It's over, Saren." Shepard continued, approaching the rogue Specter, flanked by his squadron of miscreants; the turian and the quarian. Their guns were all trained on him, and he could sense their fingers practically itching to pull the triggers. They should have, but Shepard just kept on talking. "There's no way I'm going to let this happen. You're done for."

"Done for?" Saren's fringe bristled with indignation at the implication. "DONE FOR?!" he roared. "You think you can stop me? You think yourself my equal when you are nothing but a filthy human!? You and your species need to learn your place!"

"This madness has gone on for long enough." Shepard replied calmly "I'm going to stop you."

"Why?! Why do you insist on stopping me, Shepard?!" Saren demanded. "I'm trying to save us all!"

"Save us all? Everything you've done says otherwise!" Shepard roared back. "You didn't save Nihlus! You didn't save all the innocent lives that died for your twisted crusade! You're not even saving yourself!"

Saren started to shake, his eyes quivering in feral rage. "Do you dare think that they died in vain, Shepard?" The turian seemed like he was about to snap, heaving deep breaths to maintain control over his flaring temper. "They are heroes, Shepard. Heroes! Their sacrifice shall be remembered in the coming Golden Age... The age of techno-organic synthesis!" He declared, tech implants shimmering their circuitry pattern across his exposed skin. "I am living proof of this… I am the first step in the union between organics and machines. I possess the strength of both, the weakness of neither. Soon the light of this glory shall spread across the entire galaxy!"

"By turning every living being into a Reaper slave?!" Shepard snapped at him. "Look at yourself, Saren. You're just a puppet to Sovereign's will! Is that the future you want?!"

"This is the only way to assure that some life survives in this damned galaxy!" Saren insisted, but he knew the accusation was not untrue. The 'upgrades' Sovereign had endowed him with did indeed make him a far superior being. But the cost of such power… He shook the thought from his mind, determined to stay his course. He couldn't help but wonder, was doing so because of the indoctrination? Impossible, he thought; He wanted this to happen. He needed this to happen. "Or would you rather the alternative, Shepard?" he demanded. "Would you rather have trillions upon trillions of lives be extinguished in a futile resistance against forces they could not possibly even begin to comprehend?! The Reapers are unstoppable. I've seen them, Shepard. Their sheer scale and magnitude, numbering as countless as the stars in the sky…" he urged, turning around and spreading his arms, gazing outside the windows and into the expanse of the Citadel. "They are gods, Shepard. Gods! Compared to them, we are but mere insects, barely even fit enough to be crushed under foot..." he said, turning back around to face them. "It is not the strongest, but those most adaptable to change that survive! It is either servitude or extinction, Shepard!"

"You give the galaxy too little credit; There's always a better way." Shepard countered. "We can stop the Reapers, Saren. I know it. But not like this. You're not saving anybody… You're only damning the galaxy to a fate worse than death!"

"_A better way_? Isn't this amusing…" Saren scoffed. His hover platform hummed into life, levitating him a few feet above the ground. "I'm being lectured by the 'Butcher of Torfan' on choosing a better way?" He threw his head back and laughed. "This is bad comedy, Shepard."

"I'm not the one laughing, Saren." Shepard replied, unperturbed.

The light smirk that was playing on Saren's face dissolved completely. "No. No you are not." He said, hefting his gun and rising higher into the air. "Talk is cheap. Let us finish this, Shepard. I have a galaxy to save."

"Right back at you." Shepard said, tracking Saren's movements with his rifle and keeping the turian in his sights.

"Now then… Die!" Saren said, opening fire.

Thus, history took its course in one of the most defining moments of the galaxy's future. The firefight that ensued was fierce and violent. But in the end, Shepard and his squad triumphed, blasting through Saren's geth and ultimately through the rogue Spectre himself. The turian fell several stories from his hover platform, impaling himself on a shard of broken glass. A bullet to the brain would ensure his demise and end his crusade of terror.

Or so the galaxy thought…

* * *

><p>Present day, the office of Dr. Viktor Zsasz.<p>

It was strange, Saren thought as he clutched the annoying human by the throat. It hadn't bothered him up until now, but since becoming aware of it, having five fingers in one hand felt… alien. True, there were other more urgent and or otherwise immediate matters for him to attend to, but for some reason this bothered him the most. As much as it was starting to annoy him, he pushed such thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand, namely interrogating this Dr. Zsasz. And it was really saying something that that was the least of his problems. "Now I'm only going to ask you this once." he said, his voice carrying the message in such a way that Zsasz would understand that pain was going to follow if he answered incorrectly. "What did you do to me?"

"You mean other than giving you your life back?" Zsasz shot back with an amused grin, earning him a thunderous punch in the gut.

"This _isn't_ my life! Why am I a human?" Saren asked. "No, better question: Why am I in _his_ body?!" He bellowed at Zsasz's face. The doctor coughed, face contorted in a grimace of pain from the blow, shaking as he gasped for breath. At first Saren thought he was sobbing, but the shaking quickly gave way to a booming laughter. Saren frowned, throwing the doctor bodily across the room and into the wall. "You think this is funny?!"

"I- hahaha! I think it's- haha!" Dr. Zsasz tried to say in between bouts of laughter as he lay slumped against the wall. "I think it's hysterical!"

Saren felt a vein throb in the back of his head as he walked over to where the man lied in a heap. He found himself forced to wear the face of the man who killed him and having to deal with this fool responsible for it. This must be hell, he decided as he picked the man up by the collar of his labcoat. "I have to live with the fact that every time I speak, it's Shepard's voice that I hear." He said menacingly. "And you find that funny?"

"What? Is that what you-? Oh, no dear brother…" Zsasz replied, that manic grin still plastered on his face. "I find it hilarious that you think you can threaten me at your stage of development."

"What are-?" Saren was cut short as the smaller man head-butted him full on the nose with a satisfying crack. The world went black for a moment as he fell backwards towards the floor, only for Zsasz to catch him by the shoulder. He could only watch helplessly as the doctor drew an arm back, poised to strike at Saren's neck. He had braced himself for the impact of a punch, so it was more surprising than painful when Dr. Zsasz buried his fingers deep into the side of his neck, tearing into his flesh and obliterating his carotid artery and jugular veins that lay there.

"There we go." Dr. Zsasz said casually, withdrawing his bloody hand as the sticky crimson fluid spurted from the wound on the side of Saren's neck. "That should calm you down long enough for me to properly explain your situation." He said, wiping his hand unceremoniously on his lab-coat, smearing the immaculately white fabric red with blood. "I would love nothing more than to regale you with tales of grandeur whipped with a hearty side of embellishments, but I shall spare you the agony, little brother. You have already gone through so much, so I suppose telling you the plain and simple truth would be best."

Saren felt the blood cascade down his body, painting one side of his chest a bright red as the bleeding showed no signs of waning. His hearing was dulled and his vision was darkening making his head feel lighter than air as Zsasz left him to collapse on the floor. Instead of slamming against the cold, hard steel floor however, his head somehow managed to find a warm and soft landing spot. Saren looked up to see Silence's quiet gaze staring right back at him as the odd turian cradled his head on her lap. She tilted her head to one side and ran a hand gently across his brow, tracing it with a talon. Saren wondered what she was doing when Zsasz's booming voice grabbed his attention once more.

"It is best that we start at, well, the beginning." Zsasz said, sheepishly shrugging. "Or rather, it's best if you saw the beginning for yourself! The floor is yours, dear sister."

Before he could ask what the man meant, Saren felt Silence's razor sharp talon plunge into his forehead, piercing through flesh and bone and burying itself deep into his brain.

* * *

><p>It was dark, but the pain was gone. Suddenly Saren found himself standing, or rather he felt like he was standing, in the middle of nowhere.<p>

Zsasz was gone.

The turian called Silence was gone.

He was all alone.

He looked around trying to find his bearings, but his surroundings were a bleak white void that stretched into every direction as far as the eye could see. "Hello?" he called out tentatively. His voice caught his attention as it was no longer Shepard's rather diminutive human tone but his own raspy, deep turian voice that he heard when he spoke. He looked at his hands and felt relief wash over him when he was greeted by his own pair of three-clawed hands. He grabbed his face and immediately felt for his rough fringe and spiny mandible. He could barely suppress a grin of relief at the revelation that he was him again. It was almost too good to be true.

But wait, he realized, reeling in his enthusiasm and looking at his hands again.

He had _both_ his hands.

He sighed. This probably was too good to be true.

"Do you like it?" said a timid female voice behind him.

Saren turned to see that it was Silence, standing there in a white dress and smiling at him pleasantly, eyes unable to meet his. His reaction to her presence was decidedly less pleasant. "_You_." He said dangerously as he approached her. "What do you mean if I like it? Where am I?"

"Your… body." Silence said almost sheepishly, rubbing her hands behind her back. "I recreated it as best as I could by memory… As to where we are…Well actually, we are in your mind. More specifically a room I made inside your mind."

Saren forcefully grabbed her by her chin and made her look at him. "Don't you play games with me, woman. That bastard said you couldn't talk. What gives?" He sneered. Silence smiled at him, but her eyes seemed cold and distant, a stark contrast to her otherwise pleasant demeanor. Suddenly, she was gone, vanishing into thin air. Saren whipped back and forth, looking for any sign of her. "What's going on here?!"

"I don't like games." He heard her voice say, but couldn't figure out from where it was coming from. "That's more of Viktor's style. I can talk in this realm. And when I can talk, I love telling stories. Would you like to hear one? I promise you'll like it."

"Stories?" Saren turned on his heel, muscles tensed and arms raised in front of him, ready to strike at a moment's impetus as he searched for the source of the voice. It was more of a reflex than an actual defensive strategy, however. The girl had said they were in his mind. After everything that he has been through, he was surprised at how calmly he was taking this bit of information. "Do I have a choice?"

"We always have choices." Silence replied, her voice coming from behind him.

He whipped around to face her, and suddenly found himself in the middle of a garden on a nice sunny day. There were flowering shrubs and vibrant green hedges that shone vibrantly in the sunlight. "What the-?" Saren mused, keeping his guard up despite the bizarre situation.

Silence's voice seemed to resonate from all directions. "I am the Archivist, the keeper of secrets, bearer of the Father's memory."

"Wait a minute… this garden…" He said, taking a better look around. "I…My mother took us here when we were little. Long before I was conscripted into the military…"

"I've recreated it all by memory." Silence said, appearing from behind a tall hedge. She bent down and daintily plucked a yellow flower from a patch. "I wanted to make you comfortable…"

In a flash, Saren was upon her, talons flashing in the sun light as he swiped at her neck. His hands didn't make contact however, as he harmlessly phased right through her.

Silence sighed, giggling as she sniffed at the little yellow flower in her hand. "You never do let your guard down." She said endearingly.

"Have… Have we met?" Saren said backing away, puzzled by how she spoke of him.

"No. Well, maybe…" She said, nonchalantly plucking petals from the blossom. "But I can see into your heart, thanks to our Father's gift to me."

"Who is this Father?" Saren said, lowering his arms but not his guard. "I don't understand any of this at all."

"I can help…" Silence began, "I can explain _mostly_ everything, but only if you listen to my story."

"You are a very persistent woman." Saren said flatly.

Silence merely smiled back at him, letting the petals she plucked float in the light summer breeze.

Saren regarded her impassively. "Fine." He finally relented, "Let's hear your story, then."

"Wonderful." Silence beamed. The flower in her hand was robbed half of its petals, but it was still moderately attractive. There was a faint sound of cracking glass, and a fissure of sorts appeared on the flower.

Saren tilted his head and took a closer look, taken aback when the cracks seemed to extend into the air surrounding the flower. The fine fissures snaked across the surroundings, into the vibrant foliage and up towards the blue sky. There was a foreboding sense of dread that filled the air and seep from between the cracks as reality around him warped.

"Our story begins long ago, during the death throes of a once mighty galactic empire." Silence announced. At those words, the very fabric of reality seemed to shatter. Gone was the serenity of the garden and blue sky, and was instead replaced by the chaos of burning ruins and the screams of people dying by the thousands. "The Reapers, god machines from a time long forgotten, have come to lay waste to this cycle."

"By the spirits…"Saren felt the heat of the flames and the debris underfoot. He felt the scent of burning flesh and heard the wails of slaughtered children. All around him, charred corpses burnt black and barely recognizable piled the ground as far as the eye could see. The sky up above was red where the black smoke didn't obscure it, and full of countless Reapers, raining death and destruction. Saren felt a chill go up in his spine and a pit in his stomach. It was despair at its most primal. This was what he was trying to prevent. "Where is this?"

"Not where… But when." Silence said, appearing beside him. "This was millions of years ago during the death of this forgotten empire, before the Protheans themselves crawled out of the primordial soup."

"Millions?" Saren asked. "The Reapers have been doing this for _millions_ of years?"

"Maybe even more. Who says ours is the only galaxy they ravish?"

"Why are you showing me this?"

Silence merely looked at him with those mysterious eyes of hers and pointed out into the distance towards a towering structure. Judging how far they were from it, the building was massive, reaching high up into the sky with its sloping peak. It was almost a mountain really.

Saren looked at the humongous building she was pointing at and was surprised when it moved, making the very ground quake. Was it collapsing? His question was answered when it rose up even higher, boosted by a set of massive insect like legs. It was no building, he realized, it was a Reaper. A rumbling metallic shriek filled the air as it roared into the heavens, its red eye glowing violently, charging up with barely contained energies. "How do you fight against something like that?" He mused more to himself than to Silence. Not even the combined might of the galaxy could stand up to an entire swarm of these god-machines. He scoffed to himself as the beast lumbered forward, crushing buildings underfoot. Shepard was a fool if he thought he could fight against this.

"This cycle had technology that far exceeds our own in roughly the same span of time." Silence said, "They had sciences that bordered on the arcane by our standards. Because of this, they held out for roughly a few thousand years against the Reaper forces. Still, the Reapers are not some army that can be countered by tactics and psychological warfare; they are a force of nature. Even against the most valiant defenders, the Reapers eventually washed over them like a swarm of locusts. Ravishing. Devouring."

"I wanted to stop the same thing from happening to our own cycle." Saren said as the Reaper rampaged across the landscape. "Where are the militaries? The resistance? There must be somebody fighting against them?"

"They are all either dead or dying, or worse; turned against those they were meant to protect." Silence said. "All save one."

"One?" Just as Saren spoke, a booming thunderclap filled the air as a lance of gold light hurtled towards the Reaper, connecting with tremendous impact and sending a massive shockwave that kicked up debris for miles around. "Cannon fire?" He said, protecting his eyes from the clouds of dust that now swallowed them. When the dust settled, the Reaper lay on the ground with a smoldering hole through its massive chassis. "That's some heavy ordinance!"

"Not quite. Look over there." Silence said next to him.

Across the ruins from where they were standing, a figure strode across the field where millions upon millions of dead lay, contorted in the pain and agony of their final moments. The man, or at least that was what Saren thought, was wreathed in golden aura so bright, it was as if the sun itself had descended from the heavens to avenge the dead.

The Reaper, not quite dead from the blast, roared in their general direction, charging up its laser to vaporize the newcomer. Before it could gather enough energy though, there was another thunderclap, and a golden lance of light was sent right through the Reaper's eye. There was a brief silence, as if time stopped to ponder upon the moment of the machine-god's death, before the Reaper exploded in a violent blaze of blue flames that scorched the land for miles around.

Saren felt his heart skip a beat as the flames swallowed him, only to remember that this was only a memory. The blaze only lasted mere moments, receding to the Reaper wreck's immediate area. "Who was that?" he asked as the flames subsided, looking at the golden man in the distance.

"That was the avatar of the Father, god-emperor of this cycle." Silence said.

"The Father? The same one you keep talking about?"

"Yes." Silence said, pointing to the sky. "His power is great, but even he could not save this cycle."

Saren looked up to the sky to see countless shimmers in the sky. They were Reapers. Thousands upon thousands of them, lighting the heavens like stars in the night. Bright red flashes erupted from them, raining countless crimson lasers around the one Silence called Father.

The very ground quaked as the blasts made contact, rippling with the force of impact and erupting in an inferno of catastrophic proportions. The brightness of it all blinded Saren, and when it was over, he and Silence found themselves standing in a barren wasteland, devoid of any of the ruins or corpses that surrounded them just moments before. Instead, there were little motes of glowing embers that floated about in the air.

"His true origins are a mystery." Silence said, a hint of sadness lacing her voice. "In the end, the Father could not stop the Reapers."

"Looks like he was not so great at all, it would seem." Saren snarked, earning him a look of disapproval from Silence. "What?"

"Show some respect. He is our Father, and His blood binds us as brother and sister."

Saren cocked his brow, looking at her snidely. "Blood? We do not share any kind of bond, woman, much less by blood."

Silence merely smiled and shook her head, as if she was explaining something to a child. "Oh, but we do share his blood." She said, caressing his cheek with her hand.

Her touch felt warm at first, soothing even. That warmth spread slowly across Saren's body, pooling up deep inside him. Then the temperature started to rise until he started feeling hot. He swatted her hand away and distanced himself from her. "What did you do to me?" He said as he felt his skin burn.

Literally.

Sparks of energy erupted out of his skin, tracing out rune like markings all over Saren and burning them into him. He screamed in agony as his body started to catch fire, the blazing aura wreathing him in a cloak of primal fury.

"I did not mean what I said in any symbolic sense, brother." Silence said, watching his sufferings with casual curiosity. "Our Father's blood is literally coursing through our veins."

Saren was barely registering what she was saying as the flames consumed him, bringing him to the height of agony.

"Our Father was mighty. He had foretold of the Reaper invasion and was able to prepare his empire for the war to come." She continued, ignoring his suffering. "Our Father had devised the perfect plan to defeat the Reapers. He fought valiantly, but for all his preparation, it was not enough. The war was lost. His people were lost. He realized that, and with nothing left to lose, decided to live to fight another day. So when the Reapers thought they had struck the killing blow, he tore his own body into dust. These glowing embers you see around you are actually pieces of our Father." She said, cupping her hands and allowing one of the embers to settle in her palms before billowing into the distance by a sudden gust of wind. "When the Reapers realized what had happened, it was already too late. Our Father had spread his being across the galaxy. The process however rendered him helpless and unable to coalesce back into his true form." Silence said, her tone dipping into a more somber note. "So he watched. For millions of years, Father watched cycle after cycle of innocents butchered by the Reapers. He wanted to save them all, but he could not will himself back together. So he swore to avenge each and every soul that he was unable to save."

The fire surrounding Saren continued to burn, but he found that it started to hurt less with each passing second. It was like he was regaining control. He clenched his fists and willed his body to move. This power that coursed through him was beyond description. This sensation was somehow different to how it felt earlier. It wasn't the raging torrent that drove him into violence. Instead, the power felt like a calm stream that slowly filled the core of his being, clearing his thoughts and focusing his mind. "This… You know this is the most unbelievable story I've ever heard, right?" he asked.

"Hush, brother. The story is not over yet." Silence said. All of a sudden, their surroundings started to shatter just like it had done so earlier. When the pieces of the last memory fell, they were now floating in the void of the cosmos, surrounded by the heavenly bodies of space. "And then one day, something amazing happened. The dust that our Father had become finally started to coalesce. It was only a little at first, but slowly and steadily, the dust gathered into small clouds of shimmering gold spread across different parts of the galaxy. But still this wasn't enough to allow Father to enact his plans. That was, of course, until he found Viktor."

Their surroundings changed once more into some kind of laboratory. Instruments and consoles beeped and flash, and in the center of it all was the golden dust, suspended in a stasis tube. A younger Viktor Zsasz stepped into the light, working on his datapad as he observed the swirling dust.

"It was only a little while since the end of the First Contact War, and human interest in the cosmos sky-rocketed after it discovered it was not alone." Silence began. "Viktor was part of a movement to discover more about this new frontier of the galaxy. He had found the strange cosmic radiation the dust emitted intriguing and was determined to understand it's secrets. Little did he know what the Father had in store for him or the grand part he would play in his plans."

The stasis tube holding the dust shattered and the swirling cloud spread across the lab. As if blown by an unseen gust of wind, the dust started to coalesce around Viktor.

"What Father could not achieve in his weakened state, he would achieve through his chosen vessels. Through Viktor, he gathered more of his self; the dust scattered across the galaxy, and blessed several others with his love." Silence turned to Saren and approached him, arms spread. "We are those vessels, brother. We are his Children." She hugged him, burying her face in his shoulders. "And you are the greatest of us, the Messiah. With you, we can finally achieve Father's vision."

"Messiah?" Saren asked skeptically, pushing her away. "Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I buy this whole charade for even a second?" He sneered, eyes narrowing as the flames surrounding him receded, but the newly scorched runes burned brighter. "Your stories may be entertaining, but I can't just take your word as fact. I've been used once before and I will not be used ever again."

"My… I don't blame your skepticism. I said the same thing when I first met Viktor." Silence giggled. "But just like mine, your eyes will be opened brother. The Father's vision is glorious. It is a privilege to take part in such a grand scheme."

Saren scoffed. "Another thing, that didn't explain anything about my situation." The psychotic tendencies were gone from his head, but it was replaced by a cool and calculated viciousness that was arguably much more frightening. "Why am I alive? Why am I in Shepard's body?" he asked, approaching her deliberately. He knew he couldn't kill her in this realm, but if he could feel pain, odds are she could too. "What is your game?"

"The purpose of this little foray into memory was not to answer your questions brother." Silence said as she turned her back on him. Whether it was because she was unaware of his evil intents or because she did not care for them, Saren was not sure. "It was to tell you the history of our God."

"He is not my god." Saren spat annoyed, nearing her, his talons shining in the light.

"We shall see." Silence replied in the infuriating self-assured manner of a mother telling off a child. "Also, this was mostly to distract you while Viktor finishes with the ritual."

Saren stopped. "Ritual?"

"Thanks to those accursed Reapers, you woke up prematurely from your sleep, brother." Silence explained, "You are stable, yes. But Viktor has to apply a few minor touches if you are to stay that way."

Saren was almost unwilling to ask the next question. "What kind of minor touches?"

Silence looked at him over her shoulder and disappeared.

* * *

><p>Saren whipped around to look behind him at her disappearance, only to see that she was somehow upside down, her face inches from his. He tried to back away, but his back suddenly felt cold, as if he was pressed against a wall of metal, but his head lay on something soft. He was laying down he realized. Silence wasn't upside down; she was just hunched over as she cradled his head on her lap. The room was dark, with only the hazy orange lighting from the holo-consoles illuminating what little it could. He was back in Dr. Zsasz's office, he realized.<p>

Saren tried to get up, but Silence's surprisingly strong hands lay on his shoulders and pinned him down. Her eyes suddenly burst into bright yellow orbs, gazing into his very soul. He tried to speak but found his throat to be too dry for the task. The cold was giving way to other sensations as the feeling slowly came back to his fingertips. His back felt sticky and wet. His nose wrinkled. There was a strong pungent scent that seemed to permeate in the air.

It was blood, he realized. He was lying down in a pool of blood.

_A pool of his own blood. _

Slowly, almost fearfully, he raised his head and looked down to his chest. He instantly became regretfully aware of the pain surging through his body.

He was greeted by glowing blue eyes on a withered, grey face. Despite the scraggly white beard, Saren could recognize a husk when he saw one. This one was different though. The creature was straddled on top of him and from its back erupted a dozen of thin, sickly looking arms that ended with long, skeletal fingers that seemed to sway to and fro to the gust of an imaginary wind. But that was the last thing on his mind right now.

His entire torso was ripped open, rib cage pulled apart by spindly fingers as the bearded husk ran its dozen hands through his innards. Blood spurted from various ruptured blood vessels and his organs pulsated in the open air as the husk went about its macabre work. To Saren's dismay, one of the husk's hands morphed into a long needle like instrument, stabbing into his still beating heart and pumping a fiery concoction straight into his bloodstream. His mouth gaped open as he shut his eyes and let out a silent scream of anguish.

* * *

><p>It was only for a few moments. When Saren opened his eyes again, his surroundings were drastically different. The gaping hole in his chest was gone, and instead of the many-armed, bearded husk, it was Dr. Zsasz's cheerful face along with Silence's placid expression that greeted him. Bolting upright, he put some distance between himself and the pair, surprised at how his body felt somewhat rejuvenated. A chill ran up his spine as the two said nothing but continue to look at him.<p>

Was it fear?

He ran his hand across his chest, feeling it to be perfectly intact while not letting his gaze linger from Zsasz or Silence. It took him a moment to realize he had five fingers again. Quickly feeling his face, he realized he was in Shepard's form once more and gazed at his five fingered hands.

It wasn't a nightmare, he thought to himself, opening and closing the human hands experimentally. This was somehow reality, cruel as it may be. It only took that one moment of him taking his sights off of the pair for them to appear beside him, Zsasz to his left and Silence to his right. They were seemingly looking over his shoulders to join him in his inspection of his hands.

"I find that having five fingers very versatile." Zsasz said, causing Saren to look over his shoulder in surprise. "It's a rather miniscule difference really, but it is the little things that adds up."

Before Saren could do anything, he felt the tickle of Silence's breath run across his neck on the opposite side. He felt a pit in his stomach, realizing how vulnerable he was in this position. Without thinking, he whipped around and sent the two flying with a biotic field.

Instead of crashing into the wall behind them however, the pair seemingly stopped midair and slowly settled back down on their feet.

"Very good, little brother." Zsasz said with light applause, of which Silence mimicked. "You are getting the handle of your Aspect abilities fairly rapidly, although a bit more practice would be advisable."

"What are you?" Saren glared, keeping a defensive posture against them. "What do you want from me?"

"We are your family. You are now one of us." Zsasz said nonchalantly. "We want only for you to fulfill your duty as a member of this family."

"Is nobody in this damn space station willing to give me a straight answer?!" Saren snarled as he rushed towards them, arms crackling with power. Sweeping his arms in front of him, a violent biotic field warped into existence and rushed towards Zsasz.

Instead of reacting defensively, Zsasz just stood there idly as Silence jumped protectively in front of him, raising a palm towards the incoming warp field. As soon as the field came into contact with her, it started to react violently before it slowly collapsed into a small sphere of energy that Silence crushed with her hand.

Undeterred, Saren lunged at them, fists clenched and ready to smash his way through her just to get to Zsasz, prepared for anything she might throw at him. He wasn't prepared for when she sidestepped out of his way, revealing a grinning Zsasz brandishing the business end of a shotgun at him.

Zsasz pulled the trigger, the plume of muzzle flare heralding the thermal rounds that crashed right into Saren, stopping him in his tracks and knocking him back from the impact. "Calm yourself, brother. I am not an unreasonable man. If you wanted to know so bad, you should've said so." Zsasz mocked, walking up to Saren's prone form. "When Sovereign transformed your entire body with tech upgrades, your mind was converted into data to accommodate the enhancements."

Saren was on the floor, trying to catch his breath as his bleeding wounds closed and mended themselves. It wasn't exactly how he had envisioned getting his answers, but he wasn't complaining. Much.

"So when your body expired, that data remained in stasis. It was through sheer chance that a piece of your cortex was found by me in the aftermath of Sovereign's assault on the Citadel when Cerberus was picking through the Reaper's remains." Zsasz continued explaining. "At first, I tried to cultivate you in a body cloned from your original one. You look surprised that I had some of your DNA." Zsasz observed as Saren gave him a quizzical look, getting back up to one knee while clutching his gut. "You were a Specter; finding your DNA was just the matter of identifying the correct blood smear on the wall after one of your assignments. But alas, your mind was rejecting the cloned body we gave it. The Reapers must have altered it that it was so advanced that it could not operate on something as comparatively primitive as an organic brain. It could not thrive and remained in its comatose state. At the same time, I was busy undergoing Project Gemini, back then it was one of the proposal projects to resurrect your rival, John Shepard. Just by being in proximity to his DNA, your mind was reacting. It is only a theory, but when Shepard interacted with the Prothean VI, his own body must have been fundamentally altered at a genetic level that somehow attracted your Reaper modified mind. After some trials, I predicted that your mind, though not normally compatible with a human's body, would flourish in Shepard's. It seems as though I was right."

Saren was panting, but his body was completely healed as he got back up to both feet. He fancied the thought of assaulting Zsasz again, but wanted to squeeze out as much from him as possible. "But why me? Why not somebody like Shepard? I have the blood of thousands on my hands." he said, looking down at his own hands stained with his blood. "I was helping the Reapers. Sovereign couldn't have achieved anything as quick as he did without my aid."

Zsasz looked at him for a moment before replying. "True. You were the Reaper's herald; every cycle they select an agent with which they directly commune with, an Arch-indoctrinated if you will, that engineers the downfall of the cycle in preparation for the Reaper's coming." He explained. "We need you because that connection you have will prove necessary for our plan against the Reapers."

"I don't understand, wasn't I purged of my indoctrination?"

"The Father's blood is merely suppressing it. Right now, you are practically shining like a beacon, signaling the Reapers from the dark void beyond the Milky Way."

"For what end?"

"To lead them into a trap of course. A trap that the Father had devised for millennia. One that will kill all the Reapers in but a single stroke and bring true peace to the galaxy. We can only achieve that through your unique connection with the Reapers, which is why you are our Messiah."

"That… sounds good to me, actually." Saren relented. "In fact it sounds too good to be true. You could've done this without reawakening me. Like you said, I was this 'arch-indoctrinated'. I'm no hero let alone a Messiah. If anything, John Shepard would be your best bet for this little idealistic crusade you're waging."

"The Father saw your intentions." Zsasz replied. "He saw how you tried to bargain for not just your life but the entire galaxy. You tried to save us, through any means necessary. That alone made you worthy. But the Reapers cannot be bargained as you cannot bargain an incoming storm from the coast. They would have eliminated each and every single man, woman and child in the galaxy, regardless of your actions. Our only solution is to destroy them. Also, we cannot rely on Shepard…" Zsasz trailed off.

"What do you mean?"

"You do not just stand in a Reaper's presence and expect to come out unscathed." Zsasz said. "Unbeknownst to the commander during his encounter with Sovereign, and recently his encounter with the one known as Harbinger… he became indoctrinated. Right now, he is being used to stop our Father's glorious plans."

"That doesn't make any sense…" Saren reasoned. "None of this does."

"Saren Arterius." Zsasz addressed him. "You were dead and brought back to life. The galaxy is at stake and all you care for are the little details? I am offering you a chance to be what you were meant to be, a savior. Only through you can the Father achieve victory over the Reapers." And then, Zsasz did the last thing Saren expected him to do and dropped to his knees, bowing his head on the floor. Next to him, silence did the same. "Please, you must help us."

Saren took a step back and cautiously looked around him. He didn't believe a word of it, but his curiosity was piqued. They easily overpowered him; that much was for certain. So he couldn't just deny their request or just simply run. These people were up to something, he could feel it in his gut. The question is what part did they truly need him for? He would test the waters, he thought, see how deep this rabbit hole went and make his move from there. "Alright." He said out loud. "I believe you. I'll aid you in your mission… _siblings_." He added the last part reluctantly.

Zsasz and Silence rose, a relieved smile on their faces. "We knew you would come around, brother." He said, approaching Saren and putting a hand on his hsoulders, beaming jovially. It took all of Saren's willpower not to knock it off of his face. "Well, now that that is settled, we must prepare to leave immediately!"

Saren rose an eyebrow. "Where are we going?"

Zsasz was still smiling, but Saren noted a vicious glint appear in the corner of the man's eye. "Omega."


	31. Lines Drawn in Blood

Chapter 30: Lines Drawn in Blood

* * *

><p>Saren walked along the bloodied and dead-littered corridors of the space station with Zsasz and Silence in tow. The voices in his head were gone, along with the red hazed rage that fueled his most violent and bestial tendencies. Zsasz had said something about needing to pick something up at the armory. If what they were really going to Omega, they probably needed all the guns they could carry. Passing by the shredded remains of the men he had killed made him feel uneasy.<p>

This uneasiness didn't stem from remorse, mind you. Saren couldn't give a damn if he had slaughtered each and every human on this damned station twice over. It was the fact that he had lost control over himself, giving in to something that was most certainly not him. Speaking of being not him, that described his current situation perfectly. He was acclimatizing to his new body pretty well, but it was who this body was that annoyed him. Not only was it a human body, but it was a clone of Shepard's body that he inhabited. To look in a mirror and see your most hated rival stare back wasn't something he was looking forward to everyday from now on. He even _sounded_ like the man, much to his distaste.

Then there were the memories. They were hazy and some were missing context and entire events, but he remembered them as if he was there. These were Shepard's memories, artifacts from when his mind took control of this cloned body. It was jarring, seeing himself not just in Shepard's skin, but also being Shepard.

There was one memory in particular that stood out.

She was funny, intelligent. A woman he could be himself with.

Why couldn't he just say that he had feelings for her?

Was it too inconvenient for the both of them?

He… He loved her.

No, Saren thought, slightly shaking his head just from the thought of it. This wasn't him, this was Shepard. The man truly was a sentimental sap. Saren was only along for the ride, and the sooner he could get these memories out of his head, the better. Shepard should have known better; men like them couldn't afford to be tied down by things like love. They were destined for bigger, greater things, things that could shift the fate of the galaxy. Love only got in the way of results.

His eyes wandered subtly to look over his two new companions. Neither was paying any heed to the corpses all around them as they continued to walk. He would be lying if he said his uneasiness wasn't also due in part to these two.

Silence was walking quite daintily beside him, though her face was still very much blank. She was beautiful, but her eyes were dead, almost looking glazed over. Since that vision, or memory as she had called it, she didn't speak a single word again, true to her name. She turned to look at him and smiled almost sweetly. Saren merely scoffed and looked away, turning his attention to the other one. Silence was a lackey, he was sure of it, seeing as how she was very protective of the man walking in front of them. It was this man that held the answers he needed.

Zsasz had his hands clasped behind him, walking in front of the group and leading the way. He looked quite frail as an older human man, but this was merely a deceptive front. Beneath all of that lay an almost supernatural beast. Viciousness tempered with ruthless intelligence. Saren learned firsthand not to underestimate this annoying human. When he gets the chance, he would be sure to remember that. For now, he will play along with their plans.

There was a noise up ahead of metal on metal. The footsteps of men wearing heavy armor. Saren scoffed again; you would think these Cerberus Troopers would know better by now.

"Hmm, Saren." Zsasz said, stopping as the footsteps grew nearer, turning to look at him. "I believe now would be an excellent time to teach you about your Aspect abilities."

"Aspect?" Saren asked quizzically. "Is now really the best time?" he said, eyes looking at the corner where the troopers would undoubtedly come out from any second now.

"The Aspect is the piece of Father that we carry in all of us." Zsasz said, ignoring Saren's remarks. "Those that bear Father's blood are blessed with superior physiologies and other helpful abilities… Some of which we share among us, others are unique to each of our siblings."

For a moment, his eyes changed into that of a dead man's, white and milky. His spectacles glazed over from the light, and when they were revealed again his eyes looked normal. It was at this moment that the troopers rounded the corner, 14 in total, guns raised and taking up firing positions.

"This is Reynolds, we have visual on the clone- Is that Doctor Zsasz? Doctor!" the Centurion leading them called out. "Get away from him quickly!" He said, before his eyes focused on Silence. "A turian? Shit, are you responsible for this catastrophe, alien!?"

"That voice…" Zsasz said, turning around to face the troopers. "Could it be you, Security Chief Reynolds?" he said casually. "My, my, I have been thinking. Seeing the sad state of this place, I should have you all fired for not doing your jobs."

Reynolds was visibly taken aback by the statement. "Have you lost your mind, doc!?" he yelled out, "That psychopath is right beside you!"

Saren's muscles tensed, ready to strike out towards the troopers when he felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. He looked beside him to see Silence looking at him meaningfully, shaking her head slowly. His guard was still up, but he stood his ground instead of attacking, heeding her unspoken message.

"Psychopath?" Zsasz said, looking clueless as he slowly made his way towards them in an unassuming swagger, and then pointing at Saren. "Oh, you mean him? What an astute observation, Chief. But please, don't change the subject… I said that you are all fired." He said, waggling a finger at them.

"What are you-?" Before Reynolds could finish the statement, Zsasz suddenly bolted right up to his face, thrusting his finger through Reynolds' visor and plunging it deep into his right eye socket, rupturing the eyeball that lay there in a spurt of aqueous fluid and blood. As quick as it happened, Zsasz pulled his bloody finger out, just in time for Reynolds to register the pain. "EEYYYAAARGH!" he wailed, trying to clutch the hole through his head to no avail and dropping to a heap on the ground. With a twirl of his hand, Zsasz grabbed onto the rifle Reynolds was holding and took it for himself.

This prompted the troopers to step up to Zsasz, pulling Reynolds behind them with weapons drawn and aimed at the man that was supposed to be in charge of the Station. "Stand down, Doc!" one of the troopers barked at him. "Put down the gun or we will open fire!"

Saren suddenly heard an ear-piercing ringing in his head, making him wince a little. The doctor's voice suddenly boomed all around him, and he realized the man was speaking to him telepathically.

"The main thing you must have noticed is your enhanced physiology." Zsasz said in Saren's head, the man still in a stand-off with the troopers. "The Father's blood makes you stronger, faster and accelerates your regenerative capabilities. It also grants you powerful biotic abilities, so much more substantial than even some asari matriarchs." The man continued. "This is because the Father's blood imparts you with a portion of his divinity, putting you a step above normal beings." As if to prove his point, Zsasz lifted the gun and aimed down its sights, prompting the troopers to open fire.

Saren held his arms across his face, instinctively creating a barrier to shield Silence and himself, bullets splattering against it like rain drops. Zsasz however opted to just stand there, and was riddled with bullet holes as a result, weathering the storm of gunfire as bits and pieces of his flesh got punched out of his body in a bloody mess. The gun exploded in his grasp as it was shredded by bullets, leving his hand in bloody stumps. Whole chunks of the man were blown away by the barrage, but still he remained standing on both feet in a steadily growing pool of his own blood. Finally, the troopers' weapons clicked empty.

"Wounds that would kill the hardiest of men… Mean nothing to us." Zsasz said dismissively in Saren's head. "But these abilities were meant for a god. For us mortals to use it puts great strain on our bodies. The more we use it, the more we put ourselves in peril. You've noticed the blood lust when you woke up, haven't you? The need to kill?"

Meanwhile, the troopers shifted their attention from Zsasz's mangled body and focused on Saren and Silence, despite the fact that it was still standing. They hurried past Zsasz's form and reloaded their weapons, aiming it at the pair. "You two! On the ground!" One of the troopers commanded.

Saren was prepared to strike, when he heard a mirthful laugh from inside his head. "Mortals do not have the limitless well of power gods possess, so we starve for energy. The more we use the Father's abilities, our metabolisms accelerate, and we must meet our bodies needs to stay alive." Saren realized that the troopers were all standing in the puddle of Zsasz's blood, which was spreading out unnaturally at this point, practically creeping on the floor. "We starve. So we must consume."

Suddenly, over a dozen sickly looking, slender blue tinged arms burst from the puddle of blood as if it were a deep body of water hiding unseen bodies, grabbing the troopers by their legs with their clawed hands. The troopers panicked and opened fire at the puddle where the arms were sprouting from. At such close quarters, the bullets ricocheted and would result in friendly-fire, bouncing off the steel floor. "What the hell are these?!" more than one of the troopers said as more arms shot out from the blood, grabbing onto them as they tried to bat them away with their shock-batons in vain. Saren couldn't help but ask the same thing as the arms started to pull the troopers down to the ground, overpowering them as they reached for their necks.

In the middle of it all, Zsasz's mangled body stood like an imposing idol dedicated to the macabre. Zsasz clasped his hands behind his back once more, and turned to Saren, showing his shredded face that exposed a skeletal grin where the bullets blew his face away. "Our Aspects also grant us unique abilities that we do not share with each other. Mine is called 'Grieving Dead'. It allows me to communicate with all of you telepathically, no matter the distance between us. It also grants me this…" He explained as the arms started to snap the necks of the subdued troopers in a chorus of sickening crunches. Then, the owners of the arms started to rise from the blood. They were husks, dead eyes shining and mouths bristling with fangs. They started to bite into the troopers and feast on their flesh. It was worth to note that not all of them were dead at this point. "These husks are made from pieces of my body." Zsasz said, over the shrieks of the dying. "Not only do I feed on whatever they eat, but the more organic material they consume, the more their numbers become."

But Saren wasn't listening anymore, and had already assumed a fighting position. "You may like to keep me in the dark, but there is one thing that I do know." He said, backing away from Silence and Zsasz. "Only Reapers have husks."

Zsasz merely sighed, like an exasperated teacher who has gone over the same lecture hundreds of times. "During his war with the Reapers, Father utilized their own technology against them, turning legions of the otherwise noncombat ready population into willing soldiers. Knowing your… past experience, I wanted to show you first hand before telling you." Zsasz finished apologetically.

"That doesn't explain the… Feeding." Saren pointed out. These were only humans, but something inside him knew this was more barbaric than anything even he could come up with. And using his own people as husks? This Father was starting to sound less and less virtuous by the minute.

"It is… Gruesome, I know. But you must understand, Father did what he must. And like Him, we must do the Father's work, no matter the cost. We can feed on anything, but sentient life grants us the most energy." One of the husks handed him a severed hand which Zsasz took. "Here, try it. You haven't eaten anything after all those displays of your power, little brother. You must be hungry." He smirked, tossing the hand to Saren.

Saren caught the hand and inspected it. Blood was oozing from where it was severed, trickling like sweet honey into his own fingers. His mouth grew wet and his stomach growled quietly. The blood looked so soothing, inviting him to take a juicy bite. Something in his mind was clicking, trying to grasp onto his train of thought. He shrugged it off, but it was slowly trying to creep its way back. Something was wrong with this situation, he realized. "No thanks." He said, tossing the hand back which was snapped up by a couple of husks, both fighting over it. "I've lost my appetite."

He looked at the blood on his hands and resisted the urge to lick it clean. The more he was finding out about his companions, the less eager he was to help them achieve their plans.

* * *

><p>Zsasz squinted what was left of his eyes as he looked over Saren. "I see. Perhaps later, then?" He said. His husks had all but finished consuming the troopers, leaving only bloody gristle on the floor that they were greedily picking through. Curious, he thought. Saren was somehow resisting the Father's blood. Impossible, he concluded, it only needs a little more time to set in. Still it would help to be cautious.<p>

"Silence, my dear. Saren makes me worry." Zsasz said telepathically to the turian. "Do keep an eye on our brother, won't you? Though I'm sure I didn't need to tell you that."

Silence merely glanced in his direction and gave the slightest of nods before returning her sights towards Saren.

"Very well." He said out loud, "Let us make our way towards the armory, shall we?"

Shots rang out, blasting off the top of Zsasz's skull.

Chief Reynold's lay on the ground with his discarded helmet next to him, one hand clutching his bleeding eye socket and the other one holding a smoking carnifex heavy pistol. He fired of several more shots, blasting away at Zsasz's ruined body until he ran empty. "What have you done, Zsasz?" He demanded, panting heavily. "You've betrayed Cerberus!"

"Betrayed Cerberus? Why yes, I do believe I have. Is pointing out the obvious your only defining trait, chief?" Zsasz spoke, unperturbed by the assault. The husks dove back into the puddle of his blood, which slowly receded back towards his body. His wounds started to smoke and catch fire as he regenerated his maimed form. "Unfortunately, I have no need for someone like that." With a wave of his hand, the chief was surrounded by a biotic field and lifted off the ground.

"You won't get away with this! Once the Illusive Man gets wind of this treachery, you'll pay!"

"Let him hear about it. I'm done playing with his toys." Zsasz's head caught on fire as the gaping hole in his skull closed, hair growing to reform his white mane and beard. Even the holes in his clothing were mended as well as his spectacles. "Take solace in the fact that you never stood a chance."

"Go to hell!"

"You first." Zsasz replied as he smashed Reynolds into the wall, knocking the wind out of him and left him lying in a heap on the floor. With a snap of his fingers, two husks warped out of his arm like tumorous growths, rushing at the suffering security chief and ripping him apart limb from limb as they feasted on his flesh. "Hmm, what an annoying distraction." He said, then turning to face Saren as blood splattered on the walls. "As I was saying, shall we continue?"

Saren merely scoffed before replying. "Lead the way."

* * *

><p>The rest of the way towards the armory was uneventful, encountering only the dead that littered the floor.<p>

"Ah, here we are." Zsasz said as they stopped in front of a heavily reinforced door, accessing the system with his omnitool. After a few moments, there was a loud click and the doors slid apart, revealing a large room lined with arms and armor. "Well then, take anything you fancy, little brother. I just have to look for something…"

Saren instinctively wandered to the gun racks that littered the walls and started to go through the weapons there. He probably didn't need firearms anymore, but there was a soothing familiarity whenever he held a gun in his grip. He began taking out guns and setting them down on a table behind him, picking out choice pistols and rifles from the bunch.

As he did this, Silence stood nearby, watching his every move with seemingly passive interest. Saren looked over his shoulder to be met with her blank stare, much to his annoyance.

"Must you do that?" He asked, his patience running thin.

Silence merely tilted her head to one side as if in confusion.

Saren simply sighed and said, "Never mind." He chose to simply ignore her rather than attempt any semblance of a conversation with her, leaving Silence quite content in her observation of him. It was those eyes. She was beautiful, no doubt, but those eyes were unnerving. He played with the thought of gouging them out just to get it out of his system. She'd be fine afterwards of course, but he thought that she might not appreciate the act itself all too well.

He looked over his shoulder again and sure enough, she was still staring at him, but this time with the slightest bit of a self-satisfied grin of victory on her face. He rolled his eyes and chided himself for playing into her intentions. For a woman who said she did not like games, Silence was good at them, much to his annoyance.

He had gathered a good number of guns now, laying the assortment of guns neatly on the table. Some of this gear was unknown to him, no doubt Cerberus homebrewed their own unique weapons. The assault rifle he was holding however took the most of his interest as he aimed down its sights, checking its weight and balance. It took him a few tries, but in a matter of moments he was fluidly unloading and reloading the new weapon. The label on the rack said Cerberus Harrier. Turning the safety off, he unloaded unto the far wall, sending a steady stream of bullets pounding into the steel. If he ever had a good thing to say about humans, it would be that they at least knew enough to make a more than decent gun.

"There's a shooting range, you know?" Zsasz said as he reappeared from a panel on the wall.

"I'm quite aware." Saren said as he popped out the spent thermal clip and loaded in a fresh one.

"Hmm, well then." Zsasz replied, pulling the panel open wider. "Guns are one thing, but I do believe I have some armor to interest you with."

"Why bother with armor? It would seem like we don't need it."

"True, but the more you regenerate, then the more energy you spend. And the more energy you spend, the more likely it is that you will burn out." Zsasz explained. "We are more than mortals, but we are not immortal, little brother. Anyway, come; come take a look at this." He said, waving him over.

Saren filed that interesting bit of information in the back of his mind. So there _was_ a way to kill these people. If they could still be called people, that is.

The panel revealed a second room, almost as big as the first, lined with armor of all kinds from heavy frontline infantry to lightweight scouting gear. But one set of armor caught Saren's eye more so than the rest. It was black lined with orange and gold trimmings, resting on a rack in the middle. Like most other things here, the design was not something he had encountered in his long, bloody, illustrious career as a Spectre. Unconsciously, he began to gravitate towards it.

"Hmm, you have good taste." Zsasz said, walking up beside him. "I meant to let you have this particular set of armor. My colleague designed it for use by experimental Cerberus biotics. Your aspect gives you a particular propensity for biotics, it is only right that you take this armor."

Saren merely grunted as he took the armor from the rack. It felt light, but solid at the same time, inlaid with a light hexagonal pattern that Cerberus seems to like so much.

A few minutes later, Saren fiddled with the last few clasps on his torso and gauntlet and slid the helmet around his head. There was a light hiss of pressurization as the armor sealed off its environment and lit up its HUD. The onboard computer booted up and began processing data, synching up with his omnitool. He clenched his fists and rolled his shoulders, finding the fit to be more than comfortable.

"Yes, it suits you quite nice." Zsasz said, reappearing with a new set of armor of his own. The old man looked out of place in combat gear. "Do take the time to look up the armor's features on the ride to Omega, you'll find it most helpful."

"Of course." Saren replied as if he didn't need Zsasz to tell him that. It was at this point that Silence reappeared as well, wearing a tight fitting light armor that hugged her body well. She turned to look at him and gave only the slightest of smiles with a quick wink. Saren was still a man, and found that his gaze lingered a bit too long before he caught himself. This woman annoyed him.

Back in the main room of the armory, Saren began loading up as much guns and ammo as he could carry, with Zsasz and Silence doing the same next to him. After packing enough firepower to compare with a small troop of soldiers, the trio left the armory and headed towards the shuttle bay without uttering another word.

The quiet was not something Saren was becoming fond of. It gave him time to think about his situation, and the more he thought about it, the more it soured his mood.

And here he was, diving head first into something he didn't entirely understand. He wasn't sure if he wanted to understand it, either. All he knew was that whatever they had planned, he was a crucial part of it. They say that it was to rid the galaxy of Reapers forever, but with each passing moment, he was growing more concerned of what they might replace it with. These two individuals walking alongside him called him sibling, and apparently there were more of them out there. What would his brother, Desolas, think of him if he were to catch him calling a human brother?

His train of thought was interrupted when they approached the shuttle bay and Zsasz motioning for them to halt.

"Oh dear…" The man grumbled, turning to Silence. "You told me you've sabotaged all of them?"

Silence merely tilted her head in a half shrug.

"Oh don't give me that." Zsasz chided. "Dear sister, is it too much to ask to keep your head out of the clouds and in the here and now? Bah, nevermind."

Saren didn't like not being part of the conversation, even if it was one-sided. "What's the matter?"

"Well, I asked a simple favor from our sometimes airheaded sister and she couldn't even follow through completely." Zsasz moaned. "Now we'll have to deal with an Atlas in there."

"Atlas?"

"Yes, we had a whole division of them stationed in this base." Zsasz explained. "A mere 5 units, but they are hardier than an entire platoon of soldiers. Apparently Silence missed one." His tone of voice wasn't fearful so much as it was annoyed that he had to go out of his way to do something about it.

It didn't answer his question of what an Atlas was, but if five counted for platoon strength then it must be a formidable beast. Saren set the case of guns down and rolled his neck, pulling out the harrier from his back. "Then I'll just take it out the good old fashioned way."

"Lead on then, brother." Zsasz said, pulling out his own weapon. Silence also did the same, but Saren raised a hand to stop them.

"I work alone."

"You'll have to learn to play nice, little brother, we are a family and family-" Zsasz was cut short when Saren brushed past him, nudging him aside with his shoulder.

"I said I work alone." Saren repeated, stepping up towards the shuttle bay.

Silence made to follow him but Zsasz held her back, a look of amusement on his face. "Let him go, sister. I sometimes forget what the name Saren Arterius evokes." He said, holding on to her for a little bit longer until she had settled down. "His guard is still too high. Maybe with this little exertion of force, it will break it down enough to let the Father's influence slowly trickle in."

* * *

><p>Saren rounded the corner and he saw the doorway that led to the shuttle bay. It was quiet save for the inner machinations of the station, but he felt something. It was only a slight vibration, but his senses picked it up. There were Cerberus troopers past those doors lying in wait to ambush anybody who comes around. Had Saren not locked the system earlier, then these troops would have commandeered a shuttle for themselves and have left the station as soon as they could.<p>

He looked around for any other entry point. The moment he'd step foot into their line of sight, he'd just be unloaded upon. That was when his comm crackled from a transmission on the open channel.

"Attention all units in the shuttle bay." Zsasz began. "This is Dr. Viktor Zsasz. Be advised that friendlies are en route to the shuttle bay. I repeat, friendlies are en route, check your fire."

"Copy that, doc, approach at your discretion."

Saren rolled his eyes from the unwanted help. Well, it was helpful enough, he conceded as he made his way to the doors. They split apart to open and revealed a number of troopers in fortified positions behind hastily moved crates, bristling with guns that were all trained on him. But what caught his attention was a humongous mech standing at the forefront of them all, larger than any Ymir he'd seen by far and probably rivaling some Geth colossi.

So that's an Atlas, he mused to himself as he calmly walked over to their position. That's going to be a good time, dealing with that thing.

"Not a step further!" One of the troopers barked at him, making him stop mid step. "Where's the doc?"

"He hung back to help the rest of the survivors." He said, thinking quickly. "I was sent ahead to unlock the systems, we're officially evacuating."

A number of hopeful whispers were heard from behind the barricade as the troopers discussed their imminent escape with barely contained excitement.

"That's great news!" The trooper replied out loud to him, assumedly the squad leader. "That's some fancy gear you got on you, though. What's your name and rank soldier?"

Saren fumbled for a common human name in his head. "Smith." He said, almost too loud and suddenly. "I'm with engineering. We got to the armory on the way here and figured why not get the good stuff."

"Never heard of you!" the commanding officer said, prompting the then relaxed guns to become vigilant again.

"I'm a new transfer." He shouted back unperturbed. "I'm here to override the lock-down, now if you could let me get to work, we'll be out of here before we all get ourselves killed."

A few tense moments passed by before the officer lowered his gun, prompting his men to do the same.

"Stow the gun and you can approach." The officer relented. "The sooner we can get out of this living nightmare, the better."

Saren broke into a brisk pace as he approached the defensive line, putting the gun on his back. "About time." He said as he casually strolled past their barricades and walking towards the Atlas. Better get rid of that thing first, he thought to himself. He walked around it, looking for any structural weak point he could use to his advantage. The pilot made it easy for him as he kept the mech vigilantly facing the entrance to the shuttle bay. Spotting an exhaust vent on its back brought an evil grin to Saren's face. A few grenades would do the trick just fine. As he reached for said grenades, he felt a hand clasp on his shoulder.

"Hey buddy, the console's that way." The trooper said, pointing the way with his thumb. "Get cracking, I don't want to die here."

"Sure, no problem." Saren said, straining to keep from punching the trooper in the gut just for touching him. "I just need you to hold onto something for me."

"Alright, what is it?" The trooper said, holding out a hand expectantly.

Instead of giving him anything however, Saren grabbed the hand, pulling the trooper in to punch the man in the gut and stick a couple of grenades to his suit. Flipping him over his shoulders, Saren then proceeded to throw the man towards the back of the Atlas, using a small biotic field to make the trooper stick on it. A moment later, the grenade exploded, shredding the trooper apart and making the Atlas stumble down to its knees. He had just pulled out his rifle when the other troopers took note of his apparent betrayal and started to open fire in his direction.

Sliding into the cover of a nearby crate, Saren felt the bullets fly past him as combat instinct took control. He didn't necessarily need to dodge, but his muscle memory just carried most of his actions. Also, Zsasz had mentioned the strain that using the Aspect put on the host body. So be it if it made him weaker, he won't play right into their hands.

At the end of a day, he was still Saren Arterius.

He needed to remind the galaxy why that name was feared.

Popping out of cover, he retaliated with several short bursts that ended with the death shriek of several troopers. The weapon clicked empty and he dipped back into cover, reloading the gun in one fluid motion as bullets zoomed pass overhead or ricocheted off of his cover.

There was yelling and the audible din of boots running on the floor as the troopers scrambled, no doubt trying to outflank him. Since they were coming in from two different directions, Saren pulled out his heavy pistol, now holding one gun in each hand. Breathing out, Saren leapt over cover as adrenaline took him and time seemed to slowdown, making his enemies look like they were moving in slow motion.

The enemy, seemingly surprised by his unexpected choice of actions paused for a brief moment, giving Saren enough time to line up his shots. Squeezing the triggers, Saren roared in savage glee as he savored each bullet hole punched into the bodies of his enemies. By the time the enemy was firing back, he had already taken out three of them.

Lunging towards the group closest to him, Saren ducked to a roll as bullets bounced off of his shield and singled out one of the troopers he was closing in on. Evil intentions must have been shining in his eyes as he closed in for melee because the trooper practically threw away his empty gun and desperately fumbled to pull out his shock-baton. Grappling with the man, Saren wrested the baton from his grasp and flipped him around, wrapping his arm around the trooper's neck, using him as a shield.

As expected, the others hesitated to fire upon their comrade, long enough for Saren to jam the barrel of his assault rifle into the troopers back. "You know how long it takes for bullets to chew through armor at point blank range?" He whispered into the man's ear.

"Huh?" The man grunted in terror.

"Me neither. Let's find out." Pulling the trigger, the man started to convulse and gurgle as bullets tore past the back of his torso armor and deep into his flesh. A couple of seconds later, the bullets erupted from the man's chest piece towards his companions, replacing the plume of muzzle flare with blood and entrails as the unprepared troopers succumbed to the gunfire.

The other group was quick to retreat behind the relative cover of the cargo crates, watching in horror as Saren mercilessly and efficiently killed several men in cold blood. Saren dropped the lifeless corpse, or at least the half that hadn't already fallen to pieces on the floor, and looked over their direction.

He was just standing there out in the open, but something was holding the men back from even raising their guns. It was fear, they realized. It was fear that made their sweat run cold and their bodies frozen in place. One of the men started to hyperventilate, before shouting in a mix of primal emotions, getting up from out of cover and unloading on Saren. Emboldened by their companion's display, the rest followed his lead, sending a storm of bullets in Saren's general direction.

Saren sighed in amusement as he lazily erected a barrier, deflecting the bullets that pitter pattered uselessly on its surface. Despite the ineffectiveness of their assault, the troopers still fired away haphazardly though, and he could practically smell the terror in the air. The troopers were probably all stressed from the hell that he had put them through these past couple of days. All of the dead bodies he left lying about or crucified on walls as well as broadcasting audio of people suffering a long and painful death across the station had probably broken their morale into tiny little pieces.

There was no mercy in his system, not like that bleeding-heart Shepard. This was good, he thought. This was a test that he put himself through, and he passed with flying colors. There were no flashbacks of Shepard's heart-warming memories or a disembodied Shepard voice in his head telling him what was right and what was not. He may not look like himself anymore, but he was still Saren Arterius.

It didn't take long for the Cerberus troopers' guns to click empty, and the men quickly panicked and fumbled to reload.

It was at this moment that Saren pointed at one of them. "You." He said dryly, causing the man to stare at him in terror. "Then you." Saren said, pointing to the man to his right. "Then you." He said again, pointing to a third man. "And then finally, you." He finished, lingering on the fourth and last man.

The men felt a lead weight drop in their stomachs when they realized he was pointing out the order in which he was going to kill them, causing them to panic and fumble with their thermal clips in their shaking hands.

With a grin of malice, Saren rushed to their position and closed the distance between them swiftly. Jumping over the crates, he landed a couple of meters to the right of the first man, who started shrieking in fear.

The man finally got his gun reloaded, but it was too late as Saren pounced on him, driving a balled fist violently into the man's helmet, catching the trooper cleanly in the face with an ear splitting crack. The man went limp, but before he could even start to fall, Saren brought his leg up and kicked the man full on the chin. The kick lifted the trooper a few inches off the ground, and Saren batted the corpse away with another kick, sending it flying into a heap several meters away.

The three other men had reloaded their guns, but Saren was quick to press the attack, pulling out his pistol and sending a bullet into the neck of the next trooper, rupturing a jugular vein and splattering blood everywhere.

The third man was squeezing the trigger of his gun and rushed at him, lost in the throes of fight or flight. Saren grabbed the bleeding trooper and threw him towards the third man, who inadvertently shot the man dead before he could bleed out. Horrified by what he had done, the third trooper dropped the gun, only to be reminded that Saren was still in front of him.

"Useless." Saren muttered as the trooper tried to reach for his shock baton with a shaking hand. Saren simply stepped right up to the trooper and grabbed him by the throat, cracking the cartilage in the man's windpipe and watched as the man started to choke and gurgle, dropping to his knees and clutching his throat.

The last man stood there with his gun shaking too much to be of any use. Saren glanced at him sideways, looking him over sinisterly. Apparently that was enough to send the last man over the edge as he turned his gun to his own head and pulled the trigger, blasting his own brains out.

"Heh, I still got it." Saren grinned with much satisfaction underneath his helmet. His victory was short-lived however as the loud noise of an engine revving up interrupted him, followed by the pressurized hisses of gigantic pistons moving along with the heavy thuds of metal on metal. Saren turned to see that the Atlas was getting up. Doctor Zsasz wasn't kidding when he said these things were tough, Saren noted to himself as the large mech suit turned to face him, weapons primed.

Before he could make any kind of quip, the mech raised an arm and fired a rocket at Saren, who was quick to jump to the side and erect a barrier. The hastily erected barrier shattered as it made contact with the explosion's shockwave, throwing Saren across the shuttle bay and into a crate, breaking it as he crashed.

His shields faltered but the armor proved formidable enough to handle this kind of direct contact. Saren got up and jumped out of the way just in time as the Atlas blasted his landing spot with cannon fire, sending debris flying everywhere. He made for his guns, only to find that he was grabbing at air. He must have been separated from them during the explosion. Taking this thing with his bare hands was out of the question, but maybe he could use his biotics to level the playing field.

Accumulating biotic energy in his fists, the armor seemed to detect the energy build up and the words 'Activating Biotic Lashes' appeared on his HUD. "Eh?" Suddenly, from out of his gauntlets erupted a pair of long, whip-like coils of pure biotic energy that crackled with raw power. The whips then disappeared the moment he stopped diverting biotic energy into his arms.

"That was interesting." Saren said, genuinely surprised by what just happened. There was a loud click in the air, reminding him that he was still in a fight and that the Atlas was about to fire upon him again. Instead of dodging this time, Saren focused on making a powerful barrier and stood his ground. The cannon blasted away with fury, slamming violently into the barrier. Unlike the last one, this one held its integrity, much to Saren's relief. The Atlas pilot seemed to be just as surprised as he was because the mech took a step back as it reloaded.

It was a long and arduous process, and it gave Saren the perfect opportunity to rush it.

Focusing his biotic field around himself, Saren did a biotic charge that sent him flying right into the Atlas, slamming against the mech and breaking its shields. The Atlas staggered, trying to regain its balance as Saren landed right next to it and dodging its flailing arms.

There was a crackle of electricity in the air as the biotic lashes came to life in Saren's hands. Drawing them back, he lashed out with the whips, striking the teetering Atlas with enough force to knock it down on its back.

Not giving it any time to recover, Saren jumped on top of its cockpit and cracked the whips menacingly as he stared at the pilot through the transparent canopy. Drawing his arms back, Saren started pounding against the canopy with wild abandon. It started to give on the first few strikes, then completely shattering and letting the pilot feel the blows of his whips first hand. Blood and gristle splattered everywhere as the whips mashed the man's flesh into a chunky paste, painting his black suit a dark shade of red. His heart was racing as he reduced the man into a meaty puddle, obliterating his body completely.

With one last lash, Saren stopped, panting as the whips disappeared. Blood was everywhere, and it made him feel alive. The sight of blood was exciting him, he realized much to his terror. What was scaring him even more was that he was starting not to care.

It looked so sweet, so filling. Taking his helmet off, he looked at his blood soaked hands and slowly moved one finger closer to his mouth. Realizing what his body was doing, Saren snapped out of it and hurriedly placed his helmet back on. Something told him that if he were to consume even a drop of blood, then he would enter into a contract with no exit clause.

The sound of clapping brought him back to his senses as Dr. Zsasz walked into the shuttle bay, Silence following obediently behind him, carrying all their gear without complaint. "Well done, little brother!" he said proudly. "I suppose that you're warmed up for the main event when we get to Omega then, yes?"

"No more cryptic clues or dodging my questions, old man." Saren sneered. "What's in Omega that's so bloody important?"

"Yes, I suppose it's time to stop teasing you." Zsasz conceded, walking down the row of ships and picking one seemingly at random. "As you know, Omega was once an asteroid, hollowed out and ravaged by mining corporations over the centuries. But element zero was not the only thing that they found there…"

"Out with it." Saren demanded when Zsasz started to trail off for effect. He hopped off of the Atlas and approached the other man, leaving bloody footprints in his wake. "What did they find?"

"A piece of our Father. Not a mote of dust, not a fragment, but a piece of our Father, larger than all the dust in our bloodstreams combined." Zsasz said somberly. "First it was taken as a souvenir by some mining big-wig, and then it was taken as part of a treasure hoard when the gangs took over. The hoard's location was lost in the bloody history of Omega, but we have narrowed down its location."

"And what do you hope to gain with this 'piece of the Father'?" Saren said, narrowing his eyes on Zsasz.

"It is not just my gain, Saren, but the entire galaxy's!" Zsasz said, a fire in his eyes. "A piece that large will be enough to commune with the Father and awaken him from his slumber across the galaxy. With his power, we can wipe out the Reaper threat in one fell swoop and spread His divine will across the cosmos! Praise be the Father!"

"But that didn't work during Father's time." Saren countered, unconsciously addressing the Father like Zsasz was. "What makes now different?"

"Now? Well, now we have you." Zsasz said, before turning towards the ship he had picked. Silence was already loading their gear into it. "Enough talk, we have a long journey ahead of us to Omega."

"Hey! I wasn't done asking you-!" Saren began to say before Zsasz glared at him from over his shoulder. Gone was the carefree and nonsensical expression, replaced instead by grim determination. Saren couldn't help the chills run up his spine.

"Enough." The doctor said, before ascending the ramp into the ship he had chosen. "Come now, little brother, we have a galaxy to save."

Saren clenched his fists as he eyed Zsasz's retreating form. This human- whatever he was, was not something to be taken likely, he thought to himself. He stood there long enough for Zsasz to look over his shoulder at him again.

"You play an important role, Saren Arterius." Zsaz said, dropping all pretense of his eccentricities. "You may not understand now, but you and you alone can change this galaxy for the good. You will be the one to carry the Father's shining light to the darkest reaches of the universe. To deliver his love to those who need it most, and his wrath to those that deserve it most."

"I'm no holy man, Zsasz."

"But you _are_ Holy. you are the Messiah." Zsasz insisted fervently. "Now, let us go. Do not make me repeat myself."

Saren inhaled sharply as he tried to fight the rage inside of him. This human dared to talk down to him like that? As he was right now, he stood no chance against Zsasz. But there will be openings, times where he let his guard down. For now, he will follow him, and see what all the fuss about this Father character was really about.


	32. Fire and Broken Things

Chapter 31: Fire and Broken Things

* * *

><p>It was a sight to see, really.<p>

At this time of night, she was supposed to be in a luxurious suite with all of life's finest amenities, lying down on a large circular bed wrapped in divine silk and surrounded by her chosen erotic entertainment for the evening. Soft music would be playing and heady incense would fill the room, and she would gingerly sip spiced wine from a crystal cup as she lost herself in ecstasy.

Instead, Aria T'Loak, pirate queen of Omega, the most powerful gangster in the Terminus systems and quite possibly the civilized galaxy, lay broken on a cot in an overcrowded med bay, serenaded by the beeping of medical instruments and smelling of antiseptic and dried blood, surrounded by strangers.

She turned over gingerly to her side, her knees stiff from her wounds, trying to get more comfortable with little success. She couldn't sleep, and the pain was only the least of the reasons why. Aria T'Loak was angry; angrier than she had ever been in her entire life.

Oh goddess, she thought she had overcome her nightmares. But what Miller did to her brought back a lot of old memories. Terrible memories…

No, she wouldn't think about. She shouldn't think about it!

This wasn't supposed to be happening, least of all to her of all people. She was Aria T'Loak, supreme predator at the top of the food chain, and she had fought her way from nothing to get to the top of that food chain. It was a long and bloody journey, with a lot of gangsters meeting their end down the barrel of her gun. In the end, she had thought of herself as untouchable.

Apparently, she had thought wrong.

She should have been more aware of her situation, kept tighter reigns on the leashes of the mercs and both eyes and ears to the information grid. She should have seen this disaster coming miles away. But in the end, she still proved to be too complacent. Now the Afterlife, her ivory tower, was no more. What was left lay in a twisted, smoldering wreckage littered with the dead of a long and bloody night. She had been chased out of her home, her station, by a bunch of upstart mercs and a vengeful foe that she had long disgraced. She could make all the excuses she wanted, but deep down she knew what really happened. She had failed, plain and simple. The pain in her maimed hand served as a grim reminder of that. Not to mention her knees… It would be no small miracle if she could walk properly after this.

Not only did she fail herself, but also the men and women under her command. Right now, those who were still alive were fighting tooth and nail every minute to stay alive for just a little while longer. She had lost so much of them already. Grizz, Anto, Moklan… Everybody from her inner circle was dead, leaving only the lieutenants in charge of the various districts.

And while her men fought and bled and died in her name, she was stuck here, maimed and useless. Nobody was more aware of this humiliation than she was. After this tragedy, would they still follow her? She couldn't blame them if they didn't want to. It made her blood simmer just dwelling on the thought.

Wait, she reminded herself. Not everybody from her inner circle was dead.

There was still _him_.

The betrayer.

The Patriarch.

Her teeth clenched just from the thought of that old bastard looming smugly over her. She should have killed him when she had the chance, but she wanted to make an example out of him. Had she known back then that that one decision would have had such dire consequences then maybe…?

She sneered; hindsight was always 20:20, it was the here and now that was most important. It was a mistake on her part to let him live that night, one she was more than willing to correct.

Killing him won't undo everything that's happened or revive all the people that had been killed because of it. But damn would she feel better afterwards.

At least that's what she hoped for, anyway.

But in order to do that, she had to get better first. Looking down at her mauled hand, getting better was easier said than done. Any rational person would realize that she can't possibly go back into the field with the injuries she had suffered. Walking was one thing, but only being able to use one hand?

Grimacing with effort, she sat up on the cot and looked at her left hand.

No matter how she tried to deny it, Mordin was right. Her left hand wasn't going to heal up anymore. It was dead and the longer it stayed connected to her, the more damage it will do. The analgesics she was given only just barely dulled the excruciating pain that radiated from it. It was useless to her, but most of all it was in the way of her vengeance.

There was no other way around it; her left hand had to go.

"Doctor… _Chakwas_, wasn't it?" she suddenly spoke up, catching the attention of the Normandy's medical officer that was sitting down in front of a nearby terminal, looking like she was trying to fight off sleep in a losing battle.

"Ah?" Dr. Chakwas replied sleepily, rubbing the drowsiness from her eyes. Aria was quick to be insulted by such half-witted responses, but the human doctor did spend the majority of the last few hours treating dozens of critical injuries, hers included, so she decided to let it slide. "Oh, I'm sorry, is there anything the matter, madame T'Loak?"

Madame T'Loak? That was a first, Aria chuckled inwardly. If anything, at least she was respectful. "Call me Aria, please." She said out loud, doing her best to not let the pain show through her voice. "I have made a decision regarding my condition."

"Yes?" The doctor said expectantly.

Aria felt like she was almost forcing herself to utter the next few words. "I… accept Mordin's diagnosis. I am willing to undergo the amputation." Damn it. There. She said it out loud. There was no turning back now.

"Yes, of course." Chakwas replied curtly, ignorant of Aria's inner battle of wills, heaving a subtle sigh of relief as she got back on her terminal. "It's good that you finally agreed. We can begin the procedure within the hour. The sooner we can operate on you, the better."

"One thing, though." Aria said, her voice lowering to a near whisper, her eyes unable to meet the doctor's. She sighed, reluctantly continuing her line of thought. "I'm… uncomfortable with scalpels."

"Don't worry, we can have you sedated." Dr. Chakwas said assuringly. "You won't feel a thing."

"Well, about that…" Aria replied, her resolve slowly shaking. "I also have a problem about being… sedated."

It was true. It wasn't necessarily the surgery that she feared but the situation itself. It was one of her darker and more shameful secrets, but Aria T'Loak was afraid of being subjected to situations that did not leave her in control and left her vulnerable to the mercy of others. There was something about being so helpless that did not sit well with her. It all went back to when she was barely a century old, when her mother was killed and she was…

She was…

She stopped herself before the trauma could take hold. What Miller did to her brought up old scars that Aria thought she had left behind her. She made him pay for that. Never again, she told herself. Never again will she be dominated by anybody.

She was truly dredging through the shores of humiliation at this point, revealing a hint of this phobia to a doctor that was barely past a tenth of her age. The only thing that was holding her resolve was that her thirst for vengeance far overpowered the demon of fear. When she finally got the nerve to make eye contact with Dr. Chakwas, she looked for any kind of reaction of amusement in the doctor's eyes, but thankfully she found none.

"I understand." Dr. Chakwas said, making nothing of it much to Aria's relief. "We can use a local anesthetic for the procedure, but there will be a level pain that we cannot do anything about."

"Pain is good, it means I'm alive." Aria said, wincing as a particularly strong pang of pain radiated from her ailing hand. "It doesn't mean I want a constant reminder of it, though." She clenched her teeth, wrestling with the sea of primal emotions inside of her.

Rage.

Fear.

Both sides were fighting fiercely for domination of her actions. Rage was winning out at first, but then fear had somehow evened up the odds. But slowly and surely, her fear was turning into terror, and terror was quickly breaking her resolve.

She… She couldn't go through with it.

She was just a girl again, powerless, helpless…

She hated the feeling.

She… She was about to lose it.

She needed to act now, while her resolve was still steady and before she succumbed to a nervous breakdown.

Aria T'Loak was strong and indomitable; and that image needed to be kept.

"Tell me something, doc." She said suddenly, grasping her left wrist with her good hand. "How good are you in emergency situations?"

"Being on a military vessel my whole life has left me very capable in life or death situations." Dr. Chakwas replied confidently. "Why do you ask?"

Aria's right hand glowed with biotic energy, tightening her grip on her left wrist. "Time to see if there's merit to those words, doc. I'm an AB negative, by the way."

A look of realization suddenly crossed onto Dr. Chakwas' face as she stood up to try and stop Aria, but it was too late. There was a flash of blue energy followed by the crimson splatter of blood.

Aria did not scream as blood gushed from the stump of her wrist where she had cut her own hand off. The pain struck her like lightning, but she did not scream as the severed limb dropped lifelessly to the floor in a growing puddle of her own blood. She did not scream even as Chakwas rushed to her side, hastily trying to put pressure on her wound to stop her from bleeding out. She did not scream as more people came rushing to her side, stifling panic in order to perform a delicate emergency procedure. Fear had gripped her, far surpassing her rage that locked her in this semi-catatonic state, aware but detached from reality.

It was true, Aria T'Loak was afraid.

But she was not afraid of her fears, no, not anymore.

She was afraid for her enemies.

Because if she could do this to herself for the sake of vengeance, what violence was she willing to inflict against her enemies to satisfy her lust for it?

The Patriarch will die, along with everybody else that had had a hand in orchestrating this betrayal. They will die a slow and painful death, drawn out for as long as she could muster. She would make them suffer until death would seem like the greatest mercy there was in the galaxy.

And when she grants them that mercy, with the tears of gratitude welling in their eyes as they looked down the barrel of her gun, she would pull the trigger and the Galaxy would be reminded of something.

Don't fuck with Aria.

* * *

><p>Unlike the medbay which was currently teeming with chaos, the tech lab was a place of order. But somehow, it still managed to hustle with the same air of activity as it did the former. That was par for the course when Professor Mordin Solus was working there. The scientist salarian was busy running diagnostics through several machines, working on many lines of thought at once.<p>

"No, no, can't be right. Too clean. Much too clean." He mused to himself as he readjusted the parameters of the gene scan on the console. "Highly unlikely but must have overlooked something. No other explanation." He concluded, much to his annoyance. "Beginning new diagnostic scan, scrapping previous results."

The Eclipse attack had given Mordin plenty of new experiences, but the one that takes the highlight was encountering the asari known as Melina Sorris. As far as asari went, she was certainly a powerful biotic and capable commando, but that was not what caught Mordin's attention. The woman had displayed incredible regenerative capabilities, bringing her back from the brink of death on numerous occasions during the battle. She also underwent a drastic mutation into some kind of nightmarish horror that he had never encountered before in all his years of study in the field of xenobiology. And by Shepard's accounts, the commander of the Eclipse also demonstrated the same abilities but on a more advanced scale. To say that he was intrigued was an understatement.

Right now however, Mordin was more perplexed than anything as the new test results came in. These results just didn't make any sense to him. "Results of gene scan inconclusive. Curious…"

What was the cause of this phenomenon? Was this limited to the encountered asari or was it more widespread among the ranks of the Eclipse? Or did it go even beyond that into a larger scale than Mordin had originally anticipated? These were the questions that he was eager to find an answer to.

It was unfortunate that he could not get his hands on Melina's body for further study, but he was able to get ahold of the next best thing. On a nearby table lay the asari corpse that he had acquired from the shipyard, one of Melina's subordinates. Her torso was sliced open and pulled apart from the autopsy that he had just conducted. He hummed a wordless tune to himself as he went over his results for a third time, looking for any discrepancy from the norm which he may have missed.

"Curious… curious…" Mordin murmured to himself, unsatisfied by the results. "Mordin Solus, Log 3327-4." He said out loud, recording his voice on his omnitool. "Subject reveals normal asari anatomy upon dissection. No signs of cellular mutation or traces of foreign substances detected in tissue. No signs of tech augmentations or gene modifications. Subject is by all accounts clean. Express doubts in results, may redo all tests."

Mordin wasn't one to get frustrated easily, but he was missing something. Something very crucial and obvious that was mocking him right in his face. He was certain that this body held the answers he was looking for, but the asari had been in perfect health when she died, clean of any mods that may have been able to reproduce any of Melina's abilities. The other asari in Melina's Luna Eclipse may not have been on their leader's level, but they still displayed enhanced capabilities. His brow furrowed as he rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Hmmm, may be looking too hard in wrong direction. Change in perspective may help." He said to himself, inspecting the corpse carefully. "Tech augmentations unlikely… A drug? One whose half-life accelerates upon the user's death to leave no trace? No. No, can't be drugs. Biotic enhancement drugs cause damage to user's tissue. Subject's tissues in perfect condition. Drugs would always leave traces, miniscule in amount, but detectable. Also does not explain mutations."

He activated his omnitool and brought up the previous results of all the tests in front of him in a mess of holographic interfaces that only he could decipher.

"Mutations more likely caused by genetic augmentations, but do not explain rapid production of cellular mass to accommodate the scale of transformation." He rubbed his chin again as he reviewed the results. "Such transformation would require massive amounts of energy and cellular turnover. Metabolic strain alone would be fatal!"

Loathe as he was to admit it, maybe what he was looking for could not be found in this corpse. "Impossible." He said to himself, shaking off his doubts. "Must be some clue, some trace of that ability somewhere in this woman's body." He just needed to know what to look for. A smirk crossed his wrinkled face. He couldn't remember the last time he had such an engaging challenge. The prospect excited him.

As he stood there and pondered the mystery of the corpse, his train of thought was interrupted when EDI's holographic avatar came to life on her terminal and addressed. "Dr. Solus, Dr. Chakwas is requesting your presence in the medbay. The situation is urgent."

"On my way." He said taking a step back from the operation table, a slight tinge of regret at being torn from his work, but duty called to him. Waving his hand over the table, a stasis field activated and wrapped the body. No point in taking risks. "Brief me on the situation, EDI." He said as he exited the tech lab, hurrying for the elevator on his way to the medbay.

The tech lab was left quiet save for the constant beeping of equipment. Had Mordin stayed for a half second longer, maybe he would've caught the slight twitch the corpse's eye lids made, even under the thrall of the stasis field.

* * *

><p>The Eclipse base, in the heart of Omega's commercial district.<p>

The station was still rife with gunfire and battle cries, but here, in the base's inner sanctum, there was sanctuary. The Eclipse were licking their wounds, riled by the losses they suffered against the crew of the Normandy. Never in the entire history of the Omega chapter had casualties piled up so quick. And while her officer's worked their way through the logistical nightmare, the Eclipse commander was indulging in pleasure.

Tarrana Ionet lounged in her luxurious private quarters, sitting quite comfortably on her throne like chair, a sly smirk of satisfaction on her beautiful face. "Entertain your lady, girls…" she whispered huskily. "Feed me…."

Asides from her, the massive room was filled by a dozen asari, their bare skin slick and gleaming with exotic oils, their squirming bodies lost in the throes of passion and ecstasy as they serenaded the lady of the Eclipse by their moans of pleasure. Tarrana took it all in as the orgy breathed a life of its own, each girl hand-picked for their skill and beauty.

This was what she lived for.

This decadence that made her blood burn with lust.

It confused her at first, when she was reborn as a daughter to the Father. In her old life, such acts were sacred, and the thought of doing it with just anybody appalled her. But soon, she came to accept that this too was part of her Aspect of the Father. Pleasure was the drive for most of creation's basic instincts and one of Father's greatest gifts. She could feed on it, like lapping into a pool of honey, so rich and sweet. It invigorated her and made her heart pound as the energy filled her.

This was her Aspect, Scorpio Nights, the aspect of pleasure and the search for pleasure.

One of the girls approached her, looking heady and confused, her face flushed with a tinge of a blush while her hands tried desperately to cover her exposed body. "My lady… My body feels… This isn't right." the girl urged herself to say. "What is happening to me?"

"Ahhh, you must be one of the new girls…" Tarrana grabbed her, pulling the girl gently onto her lap and giving her a deep and sensual kiss. "Shhh, don't fight it, little one…" she whispered in between bouts of kissing. Her hand ventured between the girls legs and towards her nether regions, plunging two fingers into the girl's womanhood and causing her to squeal in surprise and pleasure. "I can make you feel wonderful." she said, looking at the girl with sultry eyes.

"My lady...!" The girl tried to protest, "This is… we shouldn't!"

Instead of replying, Tarrana brought her head down to suckle on one of the girl's heaving breasts, at the same time quickening the pace of her thrusts. The girl just gasped a sharp breath of air as Tarrana ravaged her. Tarrana smiled as she watched her effect on the girl, before releasing her nipple from her lips and giggled. "Do you love me, child?" Tarrana finally spoke, catching the girl off guard.

"I… ah… I do, my lady!" the girl managed to say despite Tarrana's ministrations, bucking her hips against her hand. "I… I love you!"

"Of course you do, dear." Tarrana whispered into the girl's ear, giving it a slow lick. Her eyes glowed purple as the girl breathed in unseen pheromones. "Yes, you girls are very, very dear to me… I don't know how I'll be able to go on without you…"

"My lady…" the girl whimpered, squirming on her lap.

"I'll let you in on a little secret…" she whispered conspiratorially, plunging her fingers in and out of the girl. "Right now, one of your sisters has been taken by the enemy. They think she's dead, but I can feel the lingering embers of her life the same way I can feel your soft, tight insides. She may have failed me, but she has one more chance to make me proud…" she said. "I've touched her, much like how I'm touching you, and gave her a special gift. Would you like to receive my gift, dear?"

"Yes…! Yes…!" The girl panted, nearing her climax.

"So eager… Everyone is always so eager when I offer them my gifts…" Tarrana giggled. She started thrusting harder and deeper into the girl, who started to convulse on her hips, lost in the throes of a monstrous orgasm. "Oh my, so soon? I don't blame you though… Nobody lasts long against me. Now… are you ready to receive my gift?"

The girl just nodded weakly, eyes glazed over as she nuzzled into Tarrana's embrace.

"Good girl…" Tarrana said, raising the hand she had used to pleasure the girl towards the girl's mouth.

Out of instinct, the girl took the two fingers into her mouth and started sucking eagerly; lapping at her own juices that coated Tarrana's hand.

Tarrana's eyes glowed purple, her voice turning from sensuous into sinister. "Now… Bite." At her command, the girl's teeth started to sink into the flesh of Tarrana's fingers, blood dribbling down her plump lips. Tarrana cooed in pleasure as the girl bit down harder, teeth crunching against bone. "Yes… Harder… Harder…" With a snap, her two fingers were bit off of her hand and into the girl's mouth. "Swallow." She commanded. The wounds had already started to catch fire and her two lost fingers regenerated back, as if nothing had happened to her hand.

The girl grunted with effort, but she managed to swallow Tarrana's fingers. She felt the two digits slither down her throat, squirming its way to her stomach. "That was… amazing…" she managed to say, drunk from her orgasm, completely oblivious of what she had just consumed.

"Now we will always be together no matter how far apart we are, love." She cooed, brushing her lips against the girl's, licking her own blood off of hers. "We are now one… Just like all of your sisters here…" The girl suddenly felt a pulse of energy go through her body and threw her head back, eyes erupting into bright purple lights. Tarrana smiled coyly. "Welcome to the Luna Eclipse."

"I… serve at the pleasure of my lady." The girl replied weakly.

"Yes… that you do…" Tarrana whispered, an evil grin settling on her lips. The girl had slipped off of her lap, falling down to her knees in front of Tarrana. Her head was going between her legs and Tarrana bit her lip as the girl began praising her lady.

Her body was focused on the pleasure, but Tarrana's mind was thinking of her one agent, the last of the old Luna Eclipse who was currently aboard the Normandy. She did not have Zsasz's telepathy, but she could feel her wayward daughter, her life force slowly gathering energy for what was to come. The seed was planted deep into enemy territory, all by chance and good fortune of course. But no matter the outcome, all of it was to her benefit. The Normandy would be hers, one way or the other. "Make me proud, darling…" She whispered sinisterly.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, on the near opposite side of Omega, in the Blue Suns HQ.<p>

The base was unusually quiet, left with only a single detachment as garrison while the majority of the Blue Suns' forces were scattered about the space station, engaging in battles against the remnants of Aria's loyalist forces. The Suns comprised roughly half of the Mercenary Coalition that Cerberus had hired to rise up in revolt against Aria T'Loak, drawing in members from every chapter in the galaxy with more still coming each day. The Commander-in-chief himself, Vido Santiago, was en route, bringing with him his personal company of elite soldiers to join the fray. This was by far the largest operation that the mercenary group has undertaken, netting billions of credits in expenses alone. But the paycheck that Cerberus had offered far outweighed any expense from operations. With that money, the Suns could become its own galactic entity. Whatever they accomplished here would go down in history for centuries to come, and the various commanders were dead set on making that a story of victory rather than defeat.

Suddenly, the dullness was broken with the thunderous whine of turbine engines from over a dozen gunships coming in from every direction in the distance. Crewmen started hustling to the landing pads with their glow sticks as they guided the gunships in for landing. Kicking up debris as they approached the ground, the gunships started to land one after another, discharging their load of passengers.

Each ship carried about six people, all decked out with flashiest armor and the best weapons money could buy through the black market. These were the commanders of the Blue Suns, fresh from the frontlines and each bringing with them their own personal retinue of body guards.

Commander Wallace from the Demeter chapter rolled his neck as he hopped off the gunship, followed by his men, brandishing their weapons vigilantly even among allies. "Bloody hell, it looks like they really did call back everybody from the front." He said, looking around at the number of gunships surrounding theirs and nodding at familiar faces. "Hold on, there's that bastard, Jerta…. Oi! Jerta!" He yelled over the din of the engines, just barely winning over as a batarian commander turned his head to meet his gaze.

"Wallace! You son of a bitch!" Commander Jerta said with a wry grin as he approached Wallace and clasped his hand in a firm handshake. "How's the front over at the Deshavik district?"

"Like smoking out a bunch of rodents!" Wallace said with amusement. "Urban operations always end up as a war of attrition. Hadn't seen this much action in years! You?"

"Tell me about it, almost got nailed by some sniper fire this morning. I had the building the shooter was in shelled, civilian bystanders be damned." Jerta replied with a chuckle. He looked around at the congregation of other commanders. "So, any idea why Santiago called all of us back so urgently? Man isn't due here 'til a couple more days."

"Haven't a clue, they just said that this came right down from Santiago himself." Wallace shrugged, "Said that he was going to brief us about some important change of plans or something or other."

"So long as we still get paid, am I right?"

"Damn right you are, pal. Come on, the others are moving, let's go." Wallace said. "The sooner we're done here, the sooner I can get back to the front with my men."

The group of commanders started to file into the base, jeering with old comrades as they made their way towards the command center for the briefing. This was a sight to see really; this was one of the few times that so much of them were congregated under one roof so frequently other than the Blue Suns annual summit every couple of years or so. This war was turning out to be quite the occasion.

Leaving their body guards in the hallways, the commanders stood in attention around a large holo platform. They were hardly a military organization in terms of discipline, but Vido Santiago was always given his due respect, mostly for being able to wrangle all the clashing egos among them under some semblance of control. The holo platform flickered to life, but the figure standing in the middle was most certainly not commander Vido Santiago. The grinning visor shined in the darkness, earning a round of indignation and surprise from those gathered. The man in the hologram just stood there nonchalantly as the commanders broke into curses and demands.

As the commotion died down, a turian commander crossed his arms, a look of annoyance in his face. "The hell is this?" he said, stepping up to the platform. "Miller? Last I heard you were little more than a vegetable."

The man in the hologram chuckled, speaking for the first time. "I got better."

"Damn shame." The turian replied. Commander Lucas Miller wasn't exactly held in high regard among the commanders, considering him a savage even by their thuggish standards. Even if Omega was Miller's territory, it did little to inspire any form of respect from the men and women gathered.

Wallace spoke up next, a look of disgust on his face as if talking to the man left a bad taste in his mouth. "I better not have left the front just for this pointless charade…" He said flatly. "Tell me you didn't just use Santiago's name to arrange this little meeting."

"Yeah!" Jerta chimed in. "What do you want, Miller?"

"I want a lot of things." Miller said, looking around at all of them. "Money, power, women… The simple things in life, really… But there is one thing that I don't want." The man in the hologram produced a small device in his hands. "Sharing. Goodbye, _comrades._" When the commanders registered the danger, it was already too late. Miller pushed the button on the device, and the base shook with a series of thunderous explosions that ripped right through it, tearing through flesh and steel with white hot force.

Miller watched from a distance in the safety of his own gunship as his base erupted into a huge ball of fire, sending debris scattering for miles around as he braced against the shockwave of the explosion. The stronghold was a small price to pay in exchange for killing all his targets in one fell swoop. "Eh, should have savored the moment longer." He said with a shrug, tossing the detonator aside. "Not like they could have out ran it."

Beside him stood an imposing krogan, impressed by the human's pragmatic cruelty. "And risk having them inform their men? No, this was the best scenario." The Patriarch rumbled, watching as the pillar of fire blazed from where the Blue suns HQ used to stand. "Now you're the highest ranking Blue Suns officer in Omega. Congratulations Miller, now the Blue Suns are yours to command."

"Up until Santiago gets here, anyway." Miller said.

"Plenty of time to accomplish our goals until then." The Patriarch dismissed.

"_Your_ goals, you mean. I'm just along for the ride so long as you keep your end of the bargain."

"Spoken like a true soldier of fortune. Now, make the call."

Miller took a moment longer to savor the fiery explosion before patching in through the Blue Suns universal communications feed. He breathed in, getting into character and wiping off the smirk on his face lest it transfer to his voice. "Attention all units, this is Commander Lucas Miller of the Omega chapter! HQ has been attacked! I repeat, HQ has been attacked! Requesting immediate back up!"

The Patriarch smirked as he stood up and walked to the back of the gunship, slinging a rocket launcher over his shoulders. The comm crackled with multiple incoming transmissions, and Miller chose the one from the closest group.

"This is Lt. Corre, my team can be there in half an hour, what's the situation commander?"

"Shit! One of them has got a lock on me!" Miller said convincingly as he watched the Patriarch aim the rocket towards the far side of the cabin. "We need backup, quick!"

With a pull of the trigger, the rocket blasted with extreme prejudice, slamming into the rear of the cabin and erupting into a thunderous explosion. The Patriarch stood his ground as debris embedded into his flesh and flames licked his hide.

"I'm hit! Mayday, mayday! I'm going down!" He said as the gunship plummeted to the ground.

"Commander?!" Corre's voice said through the crackling comm.

Hook, line and sinker, Miller thought as they slammed into the ground violently. The best way to absolve him of any suspicion was to make the 'attack' look as real as he could. With a jagged piece of steel impaling his gut and the flames of the slowly burning wreckage engulfing the gunship, he concluded that this was real enough for anybody.

By this time tommorow, he'd be supreme commander of the entire operation. He'd deal with Santiago when that time came.

* * *

><p>It was dark…<p>

Sounds were muffled and his sense of touch felt numb, as if he had stepped into a black abyss, deprived of any form of sensation. Was this how it was like when he was dead, he wondered? It was so peaceful, serene. It made death look less macabre and more rewarding. It was a grim thought, one he usually didn't have.

His eyes were suddenly treated to a bright flash of light. Raising his arms in front of him to shield him from the glare, the light grew brighter, enveloping the area in a white haze.

When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, his other senses had come flooding back, but it was the smell that took him. The abyss was no more, and he found himself standing atop a mountain of corpses. Some were human marines, but most were batarian. Their dead faces were contorted into a look of pain and terror. Countless eyes stared back at him, begging for mercy, begging for a chance to live. He felt his stomach turn and his knees weaken, but he managed to keep his composure.

He was young, foolish… angry; all poor excuses trying to justify what he did on Torfan. They called him the butcher for his violent accomplishments on that planet.

The corpses were suddenly moving. Hundreds of hands dragging him down, deeper into the heart of the corpse pile. He laughed, a low and mirthful sound, laced with desperation rather than joy. This was hell, and for all the good that he has done in his life, he deserved to be here. He deserved to suffer for his sins.

There was a loud metallic shriek that echoed around them, and he felt his head suddenly swim with cryptic, muffled voices. As he was slowly being buried underneath the stinking, rotten bodies, a hand suddenly grabbed him by his neck from the surface, violently pulling him from the corpses' grasps and back out into the light.

He clawed at the hand and fought to keep breathing as it clutched tight around his throat. He opened his eyes and found himself staring into the sinister gaze of a turian that had haunted his nightmares before.

* * *

><p>Shepard bolted awake, panting and covered in sweat, immediately regretting the sudden motion as his injuries caused his body to ache. His throat felt dry, and his breathing started to normalize, so did the pace of his heartbeat.<p>

He took a deep breath and checked his surroundings, finding himself in a crowded medbay that was bustling with activity. During the time he was unconscious, somebody took the liberty of stripping him of his armor and leaving him with just his pants on, much to his relief. His eyes moved to the clock on the wall, and it showed that the eight hours that Dr, Chakwas had bargained him for was nearly up anyway.

Speaking of which, the good doctor was busy fussing around Aria's bed, along with Mordin and several of Liara's, er… the Shadow Broker's medics. They obscured what they were doing to her, but Shepard knew enough that curiosity need not apply especially since he had no medical background to speak of past first aid that would contribute to their efforts. Bothering them might just do more harm or worse.

Running his hands through his hair, Shepard let out another deep breath, taking care to keep as quiet as possible as he got off the bed. It was a nightmare, he told himself as he slid off the bed and steadily found his footing. It was just a nightmare, nothing more. He'd been having nightmares recently, though he hadn't had that _particular_ sort of nightmare in a good long while. The part near the end of it was new, too. All this stress and bullet wounds were probably starting to get to him he thought, chuckling to himself.

The past was done and dealt with whether he liked it or not. It was the here and now that mattered. And here and now was currently in Omega, where something terrible was lurking underneath the guise of this civil war.

There was time to figure things out later he thought as he slipped quietly past the working doctors and out of the medbay.

Right now, there was work to be done.

* * *

><p>Saren's eyes opened from his deep slumber, getting up off of the bunk he had claimed and ran a hand through his hair. The nightmares were one thing, but at least he didn't need to deal with voices in his head anymore. He was reluctant to fall asleep in the company of Silence and Zsasz, but exhaustion got the better of him. It was a relief to see that neither one of them was looming over him, especially Silence. He was certain she was trying to make his skin crawl on purpose.<p>

Still, the nightmare had disturbed him, not because of the imagery itself but because of the context. Seems as if he didn't just inherit Shepard's memories but his demons as well. This sense of guilt that had welled up in him for a moment was not of his own doing, although he was one to talk if he compared some of his more atrocious accomplishments to that of Shepard's.

These incidents weren't going so far as influencing who he was, but Saren still didn't like the implications. He laid back and took a deep breath, cracking his knuckles as he did so. Whatever it was that was happening to him, they would be in Omega's vicinity in just over 24 hours. It would be interesting, to say the least.


	33. Brand New Day

Chapter 32: Brand New Day

* * *

><p>The medbay was rife with activity as John Shepard quietly slipped on his shirt, his body still tender from the beatings of the night before. Of course, simply calling the living hell that he had gone through as 'beatings' was putting it lightly. It amazed him that he could still walk with his own power after being inches from death's doorstep just a night prior, much less stand. Medigel truly was a wonderful breakthrough in medical science he mused, leaving his gashes and broken bones as mere scratches and aches only a few hours after application. The accelerated healing still took a toll on the body, he noted, as the mere brush of his shirt on his skin brought about pangs of pain, but the faster recovery time made it all worth it.<p>

But even with the pain and punishment he underwent taken into consideration, he knew he was one of the luckier ones. The scene in the medbay was a grim reminder of that.

A few beds down from his, Jack and Samara slept peacefully, the pair of biotics blissfully ignorant of the chaos going on around them. The two had gone past the limit of their capabilities, defending the Normandy with feats of biotic powers that almost cost them their lives against unfavorable odds. Equally amazing were the other members of his team, who went through death defying odds and managed to walk out of it under their own power. That was of course with the exception of Joker, who was still amazing for living through the ordeal with glass bones and still managed to fly the ship despite his injuries. Needless to say, he was damn proud of all of them, and relieved that the crew did not suffer a single casualty above injuries.

There was also Feron and his crew of Shadow Broker operatives, who suffered over a dozen casualties in defense of the Normandy. Their numbers comprised the bulk of the injured in the medbay, spilling out into the mess hall where he saw them lying on cots through the windows. To think that a few months earlier, the two sides would have been most likely shooting at each other before Liara took the moniker of the Shadow Broker. It was because of these men and women that his crew was spared the brunt of the assault. He made a mental note to go through their names and give them their due respect in honor of their sacrifice. Shepard was wondering where Feron was right now so he could get right on that.

And then there was Aria T'Loak, whose bedside was currently crowded by Dr. Chakwas, Mordin and the rest of the ad-hoc medical staff, also care of Feron's operatives. He was initially worried when he eyed the puddle of blood on the floor, but was relieved when he heard the pirate queen cursing energetically as Chakwas was fumbling with something next to her. Shepard couldn't get a good look as to what was going on, but he heard it quite well.

Aria roared in pain, miraculously not throwing the staff off of her with a biotic burst. "Damn it, that hurts! Be more careful!" she howled.

To her credit, Dr. Chakwas didn't back down. "Oh I'm sorry, I'm trying to be as gentle as I can be, cauterizing your blood vessels before you bleed out!" she chided heatedly. "What were you thinking?!"

"How dare you…!?" Aria started, but the venom in her voice was cut short as she yelped in pain. "Just… Just shut up and be more careful!" Her other hand swatted at Mordin, knocking a syringe from his grip that was about to pierce her. "I thought I said no sedatives…!" she sneered, sitting up to look Mordin in the eye.

Dr. Chakwas growled in frustration, pushing Aria back down onto the bed. "Then I would suggest that you stop squirming, Aria. I was led to believe that you were a tough girl, act like it." She said firmly, ignoring the look of disbelief on the asari's face that someone could address her like that, but Aria kept silent and only groaned passively in pain. "Dr. Solus, would you kindly assist me by ligating this side of the wound to prevent contractures?"

"Yes, yes. Already working on it." Mordin said curtly, his hands a blur of motion and his demeanor calmer than anybody else's in the vicinity despite the palpable tension. "Lacerations messy but manageable. Must administer levofarin to eliminate blood clots."

Shepard tuned out of the medical jargon between Mordin and Dr. Chakwas, instead focusing on trying to exit the medbay without disturbing the procedure. He briskly walked past the crowd by Aria's bedside who didn't so much as give him a second look. He knew he agreed to stay in bed for at least eight hours, but there was much planning to be done, and the sooner he could get on with them, the sooner they can mobilize.

That went better than expected, he thought as he approached the medbay doors, steps away from freedom. With a discreet wave of his hand, the doors opened and he rushed to get out before he was detected. Unfortunately, his escape plan was thwarted when he bumped into somebody in the doorway on the way out.

Tali stepped back as she bumped into him, instinctively rubbing her visor. "Oh! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have just stormed in- Shepard?" She said, finally registering who was standing in front of her.

"Tali?" Shepard said, forgetting all pretense of stealth. Before either of them could trade more words, Dr. Chakwas caught wind of his escape.

"JOHN SHEPARD!" The beleaguered Dr. Chakwas shrieked, looking up from her work on Aria, her stress level reaching to a boiling point. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP!? WE HAD A DEAL!"

"It's been…! Ah, it's been 8 hours, doc!" Shepard tried to explain, doing his best not to become more of a target for her displeasure. "Remember? You said I could leave after 8 hours…" He may be commanding officer of the ship, but the medbay was under the tyranny of Karin Chakwas. He was prone to doing the insane, but challenging her rule here was guaranteed suicide. "Well, it hasn't been exactly 8 hours since then but it's close enough to 8 hours that I thought I could-…!"

He was cut off when Aria raised her voice again. "Is that Shepard?" she said, sitting back up much to Dr. Chakwas' annoyance. "Shepard! You better damn well not deploy without me! Do I make myself clear!?" Before Shepard could reply, she was pushed back down by Dr. Chakwas' firm but gentle hand. "I will not be denied my vengeance!"

"_Please lie back down, Aria_!" Dr. Chakwas strained to say to Aria as calm as she could will herself, before turning back to let loose on Shepard. "YOU WANT OUT? THEN GET THE HELL OUT OF MY MEDBAY!" She roared at Shepard, making him flinch. Meanwhile, Mordin just carried on with his work, humming a tune and somehow able to become detached from the situation as Dr. Chakwas ranted. "THIS IS A DELICATE PROCEDURE! YOU TOO, TALI'ZORAH! OUT WITH THE BOTH OF YOU!"

Just as he started to feel like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming truck, Shepard felt Tali's hand grab his, the quarian giggling nervously. "You heard the doctor, John." She said as she pulled him away from Dr. Chakwas' throwing range. "Let's go!"

"Thanks, doc!" Shepard called out as they left, managing to hear the good doctor mutter 'ingrate' as the doors closed. He was more than happy to let Tali lead him away as they both walked briskly past the mess hall, resisting the urge to run like scolded school children. They rounded the corner and stepped into the empty elevator. Both shared a sigh of relief laugh as the doors closed with a pressurized hiss, before looking at each other and laughing in amusement. "My hero…" Shepard chuckled, squeezing Tali's hand.

"Don't mention it; all in a day's work…" Tali replied nonchalantly, her eyes letting Shepard know that her lips had an amused grin on it. "You're just lucky that I was on my way to check in on you, you bosh'tet. I should've known you would have hatched some kind of escape attempt around this time."

"Escape attempt? I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about." Shepard replied innocently.

"Right…" Tali giggled, "How are you feeling?"

"A lot better, that's for damn sure." Shepard said, rolling his neck as he hit the button for Deck 1. "Shall we continue this conversation in my quarters?"

"My, my… How forward of you!" Tali teased, placing her other hand on her cheek in mock scandal.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, miss Vas Normandy." Shepard said, grinning playfully. "I just want to hug my girlfriend after going through hell. Is that too much to ask?"

"Well, I'm sure you deserve that much, at least. So, if you're feeling better, I have a surprise for you…" Tali said suggestively, perking up on her toes giddily. "Now close your eyes."

"Oh? How thoughtful of you..." Shepard said as the elevator doors opened to his quarters on Deck 1. "But can't it wait 'til we're in the room?"

"Don't be like that…" Tali pouted as she stood in front of the door, blocking his way. "Please? I promise you'll like it." She cooed seductively, tilting her head with her hands behind her back, thrusting her chest out to him.

Wow, Shepard thought, Tali was being more aggressive than usual in her advances. "Alright, alright." He relented, closing his eyes, unable to get rid of the stupid grin that played on his face. "There, my eyes are closed."

"Promise not to peek?" Tali cooed.

"Yeah, I promise." Shepard said.

"Okay, here it comes…"

Shepard felt a balled fist punch him in the gut, winding him at the force of impact and making his other injuries sing with pain. Before he could react to that strike, he felt her visor smack against his face in a head-butt, dazing him and knocking him back against the wall. "Ow! What was that for?!" he demanded, checking his nose for any sign of bleeding. He yelped in pain again as Tali kicked him in the shin. "Stop it!"

"That was for being an insane, suicidal bosh'tet of a man!" Tali said, dusting her hands off. "Oh don't give me that look. I did say I would kick your ass when you got better." She justified.

"Yeah, but… Seriously?" Shepard asked exasperatedly. "_Seriously?_"

"Seriously." Tali replied. The way she spoke made it painfully evident that she was proud of herself. "Trying to talk some sense into you wasn't yielding much, so I figured I'd speak to you in a language I was sure you'd understand: Violence."

"You're pretty fluent in it." Shepard said, leaning back against the wall with his knee lifted, rubbing his shin.

"That's what you get for blatantly disregarding your self-preservation instincts and for making me worry so much about you." Tali said heatedly. "You've done a lot of idiotic things before, but jumping out of a speeding vehicle while it's in mid-air? I mean, really? Damn it, John, I nearly died of fright!"

"I just wanted to keep you safe." Shepard said.

"And you think I didn't want you to be safe?"

"I'm sorry for-…"

"Sorry? Sorry for what?" Tali demanded, cutting him off midsentence and poking an accusatory finger to his chest. "Sorry for making me fall in love with a reckless bastard like you?"

"Well you made me fall in love with you, too!" He countered.

"A likely story…" Tali dismissed. Shepard just gave her his equivalent of a pout as he rubbed his jaw. "Oh come on now, don't tell me that little old me could make a dent on the great Commander Shepard."

"The 'Great' Commander Shepard was just nearly ripped into pieces just a few hours ago so excuse me for acting like a vulnerable mortal." He said firmly, "and the only dents you can make on me are emotional ones."

"I could kick you in between your legs; see if that makes a dent?" Tali just cocked an eyebrow at him and they both stared at each other, before she broke into a fit of laughter. "Well, I feel better, at least." Tali said as she approached Shepard, gently wrapping her arms around him and giving him a hug.

"That makes one of us." For his part, Shepard still played the offended, but it was admittedly very hard to stay mad at Tali.

"Oh don't be like that…" Tali cooed, taking his hand and pulling him into his room. "Come on, The Great Commander Shepard has earned some cuddle time with his girlfriend."

"If your idea of cuddle time involves bodily harm then I'd rather not." He protested, but still let himself be led by hand. "Besides, we need to plan for our deployment on Omega."

"That's cute, acting like you have a choice in this situation." Tali said wryly. "Omega will still be there in the next two hours, Shepard. Your girlfriend however is a fickle creature whose whims can change with the wind."

"You're not going to apologize for hitting me, are you?"

"Nope." Tali said sweetly, leading him to his bed. "Unless of course if it's a public apology where the whole ship can know that you got beaten up by a girl."

"Girl? Nah, you're more of a woman. A wretched woman." Shepard said as he let himself fall down into the soft white sheets. Tali curled up next to him in an instant, nuzzling into his neck as she wrapped her arms around him. "But I still love you."

"And you're an insufferable bosh'tet of a man." Tali replied, "But I still love you, too."

They both laid there for the next few minutes in silence, content just to be in one another's presence. Right now, they needed this, to be lost in each other's arms.

They could make this relationship work.

They wanted to make it work.

Because what use is fighting if you have nothing to fight for?

"Hey…" Shepard said softly. "I know I get some dumb ideas but… No matter what happens, I'll always find my way back to you." It was a cheesy thing to say, and he cringed by just saying it. But no matter how cheesy it sounded, he meant every word of it.

"You promise?" Tali whispered back.

"Hey, death couldn't stop me, right?" he said with a grin, earning him a playful punch from Tali.

"Don't remind me about that!" Tali said, still hugging him. "If you put me through that ordeal again I don't know what I'd do… So you're not allowed to die again, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am." Shepard said, pulling her closer to him. Maybe the planning for Omega could wait another couple of hours, he thought as he held Tali in his arms. It was an unusual relationship to have when a human and a quarian fall in love. And in Shepard's case, things were even more complex. But right now, he couldn't give a single damn about chiral compatibility.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back in the medbay, Aria's procedure was nearly done and dealt with.<p>

Much to the relief of everyone else, Dr. Chakwas noticeably calmed down from her aggressive demeanor as she secured the final suture, stitching the ends of Aria's blood vessels shut to prevent her from bleeding out. After applying a copious amount of medigel onto the wound, Dr. Chakwas heaved a sigh of relief. "There. The worst is over." She said, pulling off her bloody latex gloves and stepping back from Aria. "You do now how to keep somebody on their toes." She remarked to the pirate queen.

Aria simply grimaced, the pain killers doing little good to soothe her. "Yeah, whatever." She said dismissively. As Dr. Chakwas rolled her eyes, Aria quickly added. "Thank you, doctor."

"You're quite welcome." Dr. Chakwas replied tiredly, the other members of the medical team quickly dispersing now that the situation has stabilized. "Although it would be better if you thanked me by avoiding such rash actions in the future." She said, stepping away to get something from the counter.

Aria merely chuckled in amusement, wincing in pain from her wound as a result. She looked at the stump of her left wrist, wondering what she was thinking when she did what she did. She was resolute when she had cut her own hand off, but the impact of losing her limb slowly started to set in. Mordin was right, a cloned limb could be grafted later on, but she was thinking of the here and now. Right now, she needed to kill every last merc bastard who dared raise their hands against her. That would be difficult with only one hand and two bad knees. "Damn it." She sighed, lowering her wrist from her sight and staring right up at the ceiling. If she thought she was angry before, now she was pissed. How could she fight alongside her men if she was rendered a cripple? Just as she was thinking that, her wound touched the bed sheets and she yelped in pain from the contact. "Hey doc, aren't you going to bandage me up?" she asked irritably.

"Not yet, we have to finish phase two of the procedure." Dr. Chakwas replied, returning with a pair of fresh gloves around her hands.

"Phase two?" Aria asked, puzzled.

"Yes, phase two." Dr. Chakwas confirmed. Just as she was about to explain, the doors to the medbay opened and Mordin walked in with a metal box in hand. Aria didn't even notice that he had left. "Ah, here comes Dr. Solus now. It's best that he explain the procedure. If you would, doctor?"

"Yes, of course." Mordin walked up to them, setting the box down at Aria's bedside. With a sweep of his omnitool, the box projected a holo interface where he quickly entered a passcode. "The mission is dangerous by nature. Some dangers easily avoided, most aren't as convenient. Injuries to be expected. Thought it was best to be prepared for a number of worst case scenarios." The box hissed with depressurization, its lid lifting up and sliding aside, revealing its contents. Mordin picked up the contents of the box and showed it to Aria, who raised both eyebrows in surprise.

"That's a cybernetic hand." Aria said, inspecting the mechanized appendage that Mordin held up for her to see. It was a sleek but imposing looking construct, with five digits and encased in some kind of shiny white polymer.

"Amputation during combat only one of many injuries projected that may occur." Mordin said. "Cloned limbs far superior, but inconvenient during time sensitive situations. Believe this is one of those situations." He continued. "Neural interface with the limb enables it to a level of dexterity for simple tasks such as reloading, with pressure sensors mimicking a sense of touch. Far from elegant but able to get job done. Also came across knee joint stabilizing bracers, compatible with all council species. Will help you move fluidly though not without some measure of pain and discomfort." He explained.

It took her a moment to realize the implications and what he was saying. "Wait, you're giving those to me?"

"Only with your consent. Otherwise would be unethical." Mordin said, straight faced, setting the hand back down into the box.

"You? Ethics?" Aria said, she opened her mouth to say something more, but instead turned to look at Dr. Chakwas who in turn just shrugged, the look in her eye exposing the amused smirk on the doctor's face underneath her medical mask. Aria turned back to Mordin, shaking her head. "Hell, for a new hand and a working pair of knees? Sure Mordin, consider the consent given." Aria's smirk came back to her, the fires of her determination reignited. It looks like she wasn't out of this fight just yet.

* * *

><p>Miranda yawned and stretched as she stirred in her bed, waking up from a surprisingly satisfying sleep, the feel of her warm bed and the lace of her nightgown adding to the moment's glory. She hadn't had one of those for a while; there was always a ton of paperwork that she had to document after every mission. But with their connection to Cerberus officially severed, her work load was practically cut in half, not needing to type out detailed reports to the Illusive Man about every little thing anymore. Because of this, she was reintroduced to her long lost lover: a good night's rest. Not that it made her disposition considerably brighter at the moment. As what some people can attest to, Miranda Lawson was definitely not a morning person.<p>

Her stretching turned into a wince of pain as her body reminded her of her wounds. The medigel undid most of the damage of course, but her body wasn't ready to be quite as limber yet. Dressed in a black lacy nightgown that was loose fitting but still managed to drape around her curves, Miranda got up and prepared to start her morning rituals. It was this step by step process that warded off the demons of waking up and prepared her for a brand new day.

Walking over to her closet, she grabbed her bathrobe and proceeded to her desk to pick up her mug. Walking to the door to get coffee from the mess hall, she stopped herself just in time as she remembered the couple of dozen Shadow Broker operatives that were resting on the other side. She was thankful for them saving her life and the lives of the others, but not so much as to give them a show while she waltzed around in her state of dress. Coffee would have to wait, she realized with a groan as she sat down in front of her desk, not wanting to go through the simple chore of changing her clothes and instead electing to get back to work.

Though she didn't need to pass anymore reports to the Illusive Man, she still felt the compulsion to make them, if only to document the crew's activities. She activated her terminal and went over the stack of datapads next to it. She sighed as she went over the forms most of which were requisitions from the engineering team for materials needed to repair the damages from the attack just last night. To think that just when she thought that the worse was over, here they were embroiled in another crisis. She counted off the datapads and murmured something in confusion. She was sure there were more of these damned things on her desk last night. God, why was she feeling so frustrated?

"Ugh." She groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose and setting the forms down on the desk. She always had a cup of coffee before starting work in the morning, and going against her morning routine wasn't sitting right with the Normandy's XO. Standing up, she decided to start her day instead by taking a shower in her bathroom.

Yes, a good shower was what she needed to freshen up. Deviating from her morning rituals was what was making her feel like this. It certainly wasn't the fact that she woke up alone on a bed made for two, or because of the night prior when she and Jacob had shared a moment together, something that they hadn't done in a long time, back when they were still… them. No, these thoughts were baseless, the musings of a still half asleep person.

She stood up from her desk and undid her bathrobe, letting it fall to the floor. As she was walking towards the bathroom, she pulled her nightgown over her head, revealing that she wore a pair of black satin panties underneath and nothing else, tossing the lacy garment aside to join the bathrobe on the floor. A few more steps and she ran her thumbs across the straps of her underwear, slipping them down her legs and kicking it aside, revealing her fully naked form to the cold air. Rushing into the bathroom to the sanctuary of warm water, Miranda closed the door behind her and stepped into the shower. Twisting the knob, warm, steaming water flowed out of the shower head, and Miranda relished the feeling of warmth splash against her skin and dripping down the curves of her body.

Yes, a good shower was all that she needed.

* * *

><p>As he heard the click of Miranda's bathroom door closing, Feron's cloak faded, and he opened his eyes from where he was perched flat against the ceiling of Miranda's office. He soundlessly landed back on the floor, Miranda's missing datapads in hand. He'd been doing that little trick since before he got the cloaking tech to evade detection. Why nobody ever bothered to simply look up whenever he did that back then was beyond him, but he wasn't complaining. That was close, he thought, as he placed the datapads he had on him back onto Miranda's desk.<p>

He found nothing of value in the datapads, but her terminal was activated now and he knew that if the information he sought would be anywhere, it would be in there. Running his omnitool over the interface, he broke past the security firewalls and began data mining the terminal for all of its contents.

He'd have to go through them later himself, but right now, his mining program was prioritizing anything with the words dust, blood and father on it. If the information they found in the old Broker's database was even remotely true, the circumstances would be grim for the galaxy, and that was including the Reaper threat. As per Liara's orders, he needed to make sure that everybody aboard the Normandy was still who they claimed to be before he could tell them anything more about what Liara had uncovered.

While he was busy going through the files, the soft click of a gun being cocked behind him made his body spin around instinctively, raising his own pistol. He turned to find an unabashedly naked Miranda, holding a gun that was aimed at his head. Her dripping wet hair was plastered over her body, just barely covering the generous swell of her breasts, but leaving everything else exposed and shining with moisture.

"I knew something was off about those damned datapads." She said impassively, not at all bothering to cover up, her hand holding her gun steadily. "Glad to see you're up and about, Feron."

"Operative Lawson." Feron greeted her, gun still raised. "We haven't had the time to catch up since the assault. You're looking well."

"Now that introductions are out of the way, what can I do for you?"

"Just checking a few things." Feron replied nonchalantly, jerking his head to the terminal that he was still mining. "I didn't want to bother you so I helped myself."

"If that's the case, you could have just approached Shepard." She replied dryly. "Considering the man's… _history_ with your employer, I'm sure he would have been more than happy to give her what she wanted."

They looked at each other, both guns raised as the tension slowly rose between them. There was a beep from Feron's omnitool as the data mining finished, and a brief glance at the holo-interface told him that his search-words weren't picking up anything of relevant context to his investigation.

It was a few moments longer before Feron lowered his gun, cutting off the link between his omnitool and Miranda's terminal. "Sorry, my body reacted prematurely to the threat of your gun." He said as he holstered his weapon. "I guess you can say I just wanted to work on my infiltration skills. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get the drop on the infamous Miranda Lawson." He shrugged. "But I guess I need to work on my skills some more."

Miranda let the slightest of grins play on her face, but still she held her gun steady, aiming at Feron's head. "Flattery can only get you so far, Feron." She said. "Now tell me, what's the real reason that you're here? What are you hiding from us?"

"I'm not hiding anything."

"Then why can't I seem to lower my weapon?" Miranda countered dangerously.

There was a flash of movement, and before she could take a shot, Feron had wrenched the gun from her grip, grappling with her until he had Miranda pinned against the wall, her naked body pressed up against his.

* * *

><p>Miranda would have screamed, she would have started glowing with her biotics and ripped him apart, but Feron's lips were dangerously close to her own and somehow that was enough to freeze her in place. His eyes didn't gaze with any killing intent, but his imposing stare dominated her, and she cowered under it. Though the moment was hardly intimate, Miranda couldn't remember the last time she was this physically close to another person. Oh, actually, yes she could remember; the last time was with Jacob.<p>

Feron leaned in closer, whispering something calmly into her ear. "If I had something to hide, Miss Lawson… you'd be dead." The light contact of his breath on her ear sent a shiver up her spine that she was more than conscious about. Miranda felt a familiar tingle between her legs, and her cheeks flushed red. She had intended to use her sex appeal against him, but he had turned the tables on her quite effectively.

Before she could say anything, he suddenly backed off, and Miranda almost felt a tinge of regret that he did. She realized that her heart was beating furiously, and she started becoming very conscious of her nakedness.

"I apologize, Miss Lawson. My body's actions sometimes get ahead of me." He said, putting Miranda's gun down on her desk. "I have nothing to hide, but I have information that I can only share under specific circumstances." Feron continued. "The Commander will no doubt set up a mission briefing in two to three hours about Omega. I'll share what I know then. Good morning, Miss Lawson."

And with that, Feron faded into his cloak. The door opened just wide enough for him to slip through and closed almost immediately after, saving her from what prying eyes there might be outside.

Miranda just stood there, leaning against the wall as she tried to calm herself down. Logically she should have been angry, indignant even. But if anything, she was more frustrated than angry. It was at that moment that she finally understood what has been bothering her. The stress of the past few months had been piling up on her, and Miranda Lawson realized that she was craving for sexual release to ease her tension. Her interactions with Jacob the night before must have brought back some subconscious desires in her, flames that were only fanned by Feron's actions.

"Damn that drell…" she cursed under her breath as she felt a pleasant, yet agonizing warmth and wetness coming from between her legs. Great, she thought sarcastically, this was exactly what she needed right now. She walked over to her bathrobe and quickly covered herself. Forget that toasty hot shower she was having; now she was going to have to douse herself under icy water just to kill off these urges. "Well, I can't see how this morning could possibly get anymore worse than it already is."

She was so flustered that she almost didn't notice the door open up again.

"Morning, Miri." Jacob greeted. "Thought you might want some coffee?"

"Jacob!" she said out loud in surprise as she turned and saw him standing by her doorway with two cups of coffee in hand and a look of surprise on his face from her outburst. As opposed to his usual look, he was wearing a white wife-beater and sweat pants, and it seemed like he had just finished his morning set of exercises, accentuating the look of his muscled physique. "Ah, good morning! Yes. Yes, copul-" she bit on her tongue to stop herself from uttering the word 'copulating'. Ugh, Freudian slips. "I mean coffee together would be great…" Way to tempt fate, she told herself. She had to take a quick breath to regain her composure before she could speak again. "Just give me a moment to change into something more comfortable."

"Ah." Jacob said with realization as he saw the bathrobe around her. He set the two cups down on her desk and made for the door. "Sorry, should have knocked. I'll wait outside while-."

"Wait." Miranda cut him off. Jacob turned to look at her over his shoulder, frozen in mid-step. Oh dear lord, what was she saying about to say? She asked herself. "I… Well, I can't just let you stand around outside. Just take a seat on the couch; it's not like you haven't seen me naked before." A part of her wanted to wither away and die as the words left her mouth. He's seen it all before alright, she thought to herself, and back then he did a lot more than just look, too. They did a lot of things together, and he was really good at doing those things with her… She felt mortified when she realized she had been staring at him and biting down on her lower lip. "I'll, uh, be changing now."

"Okay…" Jacob said, briefly squinting as he made his way to the couch, noting that Miranda was acting strangely. He made a point of becoming very interested of her desk to show that he wasn't about to molest her with his eyes. "Something wrong, Miri?"

"No. No, everything's quite alright." She replied coolly, pushing back the torrent of lust welling up inside of her. Yes something was wrong, she wanted to yell out loud and then pounce on him, tearing off his clothes. She was hornier than a cat in heat looking to be ravaged by the closest male at hand.

Unfortunately, the closest male at hand just happened to be the man whom she had tried having a relationship with but mutually settled as just being friends. She could not, under any circumstances, give in to any idiotic ideas taking root in her head right now.

It would irreversibly damage the friendship that she and Jacob had managed to foster these past few months.

She couldn't possibly bring herself to straddle him as his firm hands explored and appreciated every inch of her soft body, her lips meeting his in a fiery-

Nope. No way. Nu-uh. None of that.

Absolutely not.

No chance in hell.

Anybody but Jacob.

Hell, at this point she would have been better off doing it with Feron. And that thought was very, very unappealing.

Damn that drell for putting her in this predicament.

She needed to distract herself somehow.

Yes, she needed to distract herself from the fine male specimen that was currently lounging about on her couch.

She needed to think of paperwork. Mountains upon mountains of paperwork stacked high atop each other. She needed enough paperwork to destroy any semblance of free-thought and individuality.

"Uh, Miri?" Jacob said, breaking Miranda's train of thought.

"Hmm?" she replied tensely, trying not to look in his direction and minimizing social interaction.

"You've… been pacing back and forth for the past five minutes now." He said carefully.

"Oh, have I?" Miranda tried to play it off, but the fluster was showing on her face. Her legs started to wobble and her knees threatened to give on her. What has gotten over her? Has it really been that long since she's had sex? Come to think of it, she hasn't even touched herself for months now. Did all these pent up desires just decided to show up all at once, demanding satisfaction to make up for her deprivation? Unbelievable, she thought as she was slowly losing her balance.

Before she knew it, Jacob was already beside her, holding her steady as she threatened to fall over. "Miranda, you don't look so good." He said, inspecting her. "I think we should take you to the medbay."

Great, just what she needed, close physical contact. She groaned inwardly as Jacob's proximity to her only served to worsen her situation. He had such strong arms; his touch was firm but gentle, his hands treating her like a fragile little thing. She could just melt into him.

No, she shook her head, attempting to get the thoughts out of her mind. This was starting to get ridiculous. She wasn't some hormone driven school girl. She was a woman and she could control herself.

"Miri?" Jacob asked with a look of worry now plainly evident on his face.

She had to resist the violent impulse to ravage him then and there. "I'm fine, Jacob." Miranda said calmly. She pushed Jacob gently away from her and managed to give him a reassuring smile. "I think I just need some time to myself right now." Jacob simply raised an inquisitive eyebrow, earning him a playful shove from Miranda. "Don't give me that. I'm fine, alright?"

"Alright, Miri." He knew better than to force an issue with her. "Hey, listen, I was wondering… " he trailed off.

"Yes?" Miranda said, a feeling of dread creeping up slowly in the back of her head.

Jacob stood there, looking nervous, running a hand through the back of his hair. The last time he looked like this he asked her to-.

No.

No.

Whatever he was about to say to her, it better not be what she was thinking he was going to say.

"When all this is over, maybe you and I can-."

Miranda put a finger to his lips, cutting him off midsentence. "Jacob…" she whispered. "I know what you're going to say… and you know why I can't do that." This was very bad, Miranda thought, as Jacob's usual easygoing expression started to falter with the look of the broken hearted. It was a long couple of seconds of silence before he replied.

"Miri… If this is about your father, your past…" He began, his voice almost pleading. "I know you're strong, Miri. Lord knows I've seen it first-hand, experienced it even. But that doesn't mean you have to face your demons all alone."

"Jacob…" She started, leaning into him in a moment of weakness. She rose up to her tip-toes, her lips reaching for his. But the moment of weakness was fleeting, and she stopped herself inches away from his face. "I'm sorry." She whispered instead. "I'm… I'm not in love with you, Jacob Taylor." She backed away and looked into his eyes, afraid of the consequences of what she said, but his face remained a mask of placidity, his eyes just staring right back at her.

"Oh." It was the only thing he said before he turned and went for the door. He stopped just in front of it though, turning to face her, his mouth half open to say something more. Instead, he just shook his head, hung it low, and simply left.

Miranda could have stopped him. She should have stopped him. But she let him go, leaving her alone again. The two cups of coffee lay forgotten on her desk. He deserved a better woman than her, she thought. She couldn't remember how she had gotten back into the shower, but the chilling water was a poor substitute for comfort. It was the water that flowed down her face incessantly, she told herself, not tears.

* * *

><p>General Oleg Petrovsky had a dour look on his face as he walked through the halls of his flagship, the Ptolemy, accompanied by a cadre of Cerberus Troopers armed to the teeth with heavy armor, riot shields, stun batons, assault rifles and shotguns. Crewmen gave the procession a wide berth as they stomped through the halls. His aide, a young woman with short black hair, walked alongside the man, a look of worry on her face.<p>

"Permission to speak candidly, sir?" She asked reluctantly.

"Granted." He replied gruffly.

"I don't think it's wise for you to confront him face-to-face, sir." She urged, but the man just dismissively waved away her fears with a gesture of his hand. "Sir, I implore you to reconsider this; the man's an unbalanced lunatic, he could-."

"Noted, yeoman." Petrovsky replied in a manner that said her time to speak candidly was over. "Return to your post on the bridge, that's an order." The woman gave a curt salute, her eyes begging him to reconsider the decision as she broke away from the group, watching as his back as they continued their march. Her recommendation was reasonable enough; there were plenty of ways to speak to go about what he had planned without risking death. But this was about an officer's pride. He needed the man to understand that this was his ship, and in this ship, he was tantamount to god himself.

There was an engineer, a brilliant young woman by the name of Sera Martell, top of her class and a genius in her field. She had served Cerberus loyally for half a decade now, and this was her first tour on one of Cerberus' premier battleships, the Ptolemy. It would also be her last.

Just over an hour ago, her body was found, with traces of semen and cut in half at the waist. He didn't care if he was directly under the Illusive Man, the bastard had raped and murdered one of his own. This will not stand, not on his ship. The procession turned the corner, and they found themselves in front one of the officer suites that the man had commandeered for the trip.

Just as he was about to order his men to breech the door, it slid apart, revealing a man sitting on a couch on the far side of the room.

"General Petrovsky, my esteemed host!" Kai Leng greeted cheerily as he ran a bloody rag over his sword, the blade gleaming dangerously in the light. "Come in, please." He urged, bidding the group to enter. "To what do I owe this visit at such a late hour?"

"Operative Leng." Petrovsky replied coldly. With a nod of his head, the squad accompanying him stormed in with expert precision. The troopers set up in two rows; those in the front brandished imposing titanium alloy shields, forming a protective wall between them and Kai Leng while those in the back hefted shotguns and assault rifles, training their sights on the Cerberus Assassin. "You know damn well why I'm here." The General sneered as he walked to the middle of the line, standing behind one of the shield bearing troopers.

Kai Leng whistled as he unceremoniously tossed away the bloody rag to the side, sheathing his ninjato. "My, my… Quite an intimidating show." He said, setting the sword down on the coffee table in front of him. "But I'm afraid you're no mind reader, General. I _don't know_ why you're here."

"Her name was Sera!" Petrovsky sneered, nearly losing his composure. "Did you even bother to learn that when you raped and then killed her?"

"Rape and then kill a woman? I did no such thing!" Kai Leng replied indignantly. The frown on his face turned into a self-satisfied smirk as he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table, leaning back against the couch and folding his arms across his chest. "I killed her _while_ I was raping her…" he corrected the general. "And I was still raping her long after that. Have you ever fucked somebody who was dying? Tighter than any virgin, I assure you." He chuckled, as if this topic was casual conversation.

General Petrovsky felt his knuckles crack and go white, his teeth clenching down tight. He almost gave the order to open fire then and there. The men around him were silent but bristling, the body language they displayed revealing that they were this close to opening fire whether he gave the order or not. "You… you monster." was all he could bring himself to say to the man in front of him. His dossier said that Kai Leng was a skilled assassin of the highest caliber, but it glossed over the parts of his being a sociopath with psychopathic tendencies. "Why would you do such a thing?"

Kai Leng shrugged. "I was bored, I guess." He took his feet off the table and leaned forward, making the troopers grip their guns tighter. Compared to the tension that gripped General Petrovsky's group, he was the very image of calm. "So you came here to do what exactly? Bring me to justice? Kill me?" A low rumble of a laugh emanated from him, his quad optic visor shining bright. "You should have brought more men, general. I don't even need to draw my sword to deal with this lot."

The two men then engaged in an intense stare down, the troopers holding their fingers lightly over the trigger, just waiting, begging for the order to shoot. The general was composed, but his eyes shined with bloody murder. Kai Leng on the other hand was smirking cockily back at him in a somewhat goading manner.

Rather unexpectedly however, Leng gave in first, throwing his head back and laughing heartily, leaning back onto the couch and kicking up his feet on the coffee table once more. "Sorry, I just remembered something funny." He said, as if letting everyone in on a funny joke. "You _can't_ kill me. And I don't follow your orders, General."

"You're right. I can't." The general replied, unfazed. "I'm here to give you a warning… If you so much as look the wrong way at anybody else in my crew, I will rip off your arms and legs and mail you back to the Illusive Man in a crate, while you're still alive. Despite his recommendations, this operation doesn't need you Leng."

"Really? Dismember me?" Leng replied amusedly. "No one here has the stones."

"There's more than one way to hurt a man, Leng; you of all people should know that." Petrovsky sneered. "Consider this your first and last warning. ETA to Omega is just under 30 hours, you do not get to step out of this room until then, understand?"

"You're grounding me?" Leng asked, before breaking out into more laughter. "Oh, you're a funny guy, General."

Petrovsky scoffed and gestured to his men that they were leaving. The two lines of soldiers slowly backed away from the assassin towards the door.

"Oh, and General?" Kai Leng called out as General Petrovsky was exiting the room. "30 hours? You'd best make it so can we get there faster. I might get bored again, and your yeoman is quite the looker…"

Petrovsky stiffened at the threat, but resisted the urge to act on it. Instead, he left, with Kai Leng's laughter being cut off by the closing doors. "I want security detail tripled until we get to Omega." He barked at one of the troopers. "All crew members operate in groups of at least 5 and I want surveillance of all areas on the ship increased. I want a squad of men present outside this room at all times. Do not underestimate this man; set up detonator charges within the area if you can. If you see this bastard take one step out of this door, I want him killed on sight, no questions asked. I'll personally take the flak from the Illusive Man."

"Sir, yes sir."

General Petrovsky nodded to the man and made his way back to the bridge, fuming. The sooner they could get to Omega, the sooner that Leng's psychosis could be focused towards their enemies and away from his men.


	34. The Devil You Know

Chapter 33: The Devil You Know

* * *

><p>Feron leaned against a wall, alone in the Normandy's star port observatory, working intently on his omnitool. The holo-interface lit up the otherwise dark room in a tinge of orange. He looked at the security camera in the corner, and with a wave of his hand, the feed would flicker and he became invisible to the prying eyes of surveillance. Satisfied, he turned his full attention back to his omnitool as his fingers typed furiously, sneaking through a backdoor in the Normandy's systems.<p>

A few moments of hacking later, Feron grinned in satisfaction as he linked his omnitool with the Normandy's comm systems and piggybacked on the FTL communication array. Of course, he could have always just asked to use the comms without going through all this extra work, but being an agent of the most infamous information broker in the galaxy has taught him the virtues of being paranoid. He brought up a secured frequency and started to unscramble the channel, inputting a myriad of codes and going through multiple failsafe firewalls.

All this work just so he could call his boss.

This was a channel that directly linked him, and only him, to the Shadow Broker. It helped that only a drell could have memorized the extensive list of codes to access it at a single glance, and he was currently the only drell on the broker's payroll. He typed in the last passcode and waited as his transmission patched through.

There was a beep, and he was greeted by the annoyingly cheery voice of the broker's VI aide. "Hello, Agent Feron, the Shadow Broker will be with you momentarily." It said. "In the meantime, please upload your report for further review."

Feron grunted his consent as he uploaded the files that he had data-mined from the Normandy's database. They were mostly personal logs and surveillance videos and audio, but there were some requisition forms in there as well. As far as he could tell from checking what he could of the files himself, he found nothing that confirmed the worse of their suspicions. But he had to admit, although begrudgingly, that the VI was much more efficient at that job than he was.

"Hello, Feron." Greeted a warm voice that broke his train of thought.

"Shadow Broker." Feron replied as Liara T'Soni appeared a moment later on his omnitool's holo-screen.

Liara smiled and shook her head in amusement at his formality. "I thought I told you not to call me that when we're alone?"

"You did." Feron confirmed with a teasing smirk, "How are you, Liara?"

"I should be the one asking you that, seeing as how you're the one on the field." She replied.

"_I've _been getting a good night's rest. You, on the other hand? Well, please tell me you've slept since the last time we spoke." Liara opened her mouth to reply when Feron cut her off. "And no, your half hour power naps don't count."

Liara pouted and then shook her head with a tired laugh. "I'll sleep when all this is dealt with, alright?"

"You'll sleep whether you like it or not when your body tires out from exhaustion." Feron replied, "So I'd rather you be on your bed then face down on one of the consoles."

"I'll be fine, Feron." Liara insisted, earning a look and a raised eyebrow from the man. "The bedroom is 45 feet away from me. I'll manage."

"We'll see." He teased.

Liara groaned. "If it makes you feel better, I'll sleep after I make contact with our operative aboard the Ptolemy. Sera's been maintaining radio silence since it launched."

"She's probably just keeping a low profile or she's been compromised. But Sera's a smart girl, so it's most likely the former rather than the latter." Feron said. "It's a small mercy that Shepard had the foresight to keep the Shadow Broker's base's location a secret from the Illusive Man when you came for me."

"Yes, I suppose you're right." Liara said. "How are the rest of the men?"

"We lost 17 of our people in last night's assault; Five during the initial waves of violence and the rest when we defended the Normandy. Then we have 8 other operatives still in sleeper status that stayed behind on Omega just in case." Feron said grimly. "The remaining 24 that came with me are combat ready, as am I."

Liara shook her head as she looked over the casualty list. "Thank you for protecting my friends, Feron." She said sincerely.

"Hey, any friend of yours is okay in my book." He replied with a smile. "It doesn't hurt that they saved my life, too."

Liara smiled back, and then perked up as she remembered something. "Oh, and according to Sera's last transmission, General Oleg Petrovsky's fleet will arrive there in just under 30 hours if they maintain their current course and trajectory." She said. "With all that fire power, I doubt that they're coming for peaceful discourse."

"Then we need to get this done before that." Feron said as he immediately went down to business. For them, the fate of Omega was secondary only to their true objective. "As you know, Aria T'Loak is accompanying us. Her cooperation would be beneficial, but not vital."

"Promise her anything, an army even. I'll manage to scrounge something up." Liara said. "What's important is we foil what those creatures are planning."

"I've already encountered one of the creatures here. Our suspicions about The Patriarch were correct, and it would seem that the Eclipse Commander, Tarrana Ionet, and at least one of her lieutenants, is of the same nature."

"Two more of them already? Then this is already worse than we feared." Liara said seriously. "Hold on, I'm doing a quick search on what we have on this 'Tarrana Ionet'…" she paused as she diverted her attention to the console on her end. "That's strange..."

"What's wrong?"

"For such a big player, I can't find anything on a 'Tarrana Ionet' anywhere on the database up until a year ago when she was hired by the Eclipse." She said flatly. "No medical records, no criminal records, no business records, no bank accounts… not a single thing." Liara said. "Either Miss Ionet just appeared out of thin air one day, or-"

"It's an alias." Feron said, finishing her thought for her. "Whoever she is, what worries me is how our contacts in the Eclipse didn't pick up on this."

"They were probably compromised a long time before they were terminated." Liara said, her brow furrowing in thought. "It's a good thing that our Omega agents are anonymous even to each other, otherwise I'd begin to have doubts about our own men." She clutched her temples gingerly, stress evident in her expression. Ever since she had taken the role of the Shadow Broker, Liara had been working on little to no sleep, sorting through the treasure trove of information that the previous brokers had amassed. Though Feron had to admit, this enabled them to uncover a conspiracy that threatened the galaxy in such a manner that it was second only to the coming of the Reapers. Still, the exhaustion showed on Liara's face, and he knew that the stims and powernaps could only do so much in the long run.

"Let me worry about that." Feron said soothingly, changing the topic to keep her from lingering on the thought. "Do you think they've found the cache yet?"

"No, otherwise they'd have no more need for Omega." she replied. "This entire war is a smokescreen, Feron. As long as it keeps escalating, that means that they haven't found it yet." She continued, and Feron nodded sagely at that. "I'm having Glyph go through the files you've sent me as we speak, running them through all known coding patterns. So far, so good."

"Glyph?" Feron asked in confusion, causing a smile to bloom on Liara's tired face.

"That's what I'm calling the VI." She explained. "I'm also working on making it refer to me as Dr. T'Soni."

"You'd have better luck fighting off a hungry krogan for the last slice of cake in the galaxy with a plastic fork." Feron said flatly, earning a giggle from Liara. They smiled at each other, but the moment was interrupted when 'Glyph' chimed in.

"I have finished the scans, Shadow Broker. I have not found anything implicating collaboration with the enemy on the Normandy or other similar forms of treachery."

"Thank you, Glyph." Liara said, dismissing the VI drone, turning back to a smirking Feron. "What?"

"Nothing." Feron replied. "Going on days without sleep notwithstanding, this job suits you, Liara."

She smiles a tired smile. "I'm a very good information broker." The smile slowly faded as she came across something on her end of the call. "Feron?"

"Yes?"

"What are you doing with Miranda Lawson in this video?" There was a pause. "Oh, my…"

Feron tried not to gulp. He thought he had weeded that particular vid file out. The damned VI must have somehow recovered it. He didn't have any malicious intent when he did what he did, but the context left it quite open to interpretation. "Now, I know what you're thinking and what it looks like…" He began slowly. "But she had a gun pointed at me and I was just disarming her." He continued calmly. "Her nudity was only incidental." He added unconsciously, nearly wincing from the slip of his tongue.

"Oh, really?" Liara said flatly as she replayed the vid on her end. "Well, I don't suppose that it's a very… traditional method of disarming, then…"

He nodded. "I do like to break from tradition."

"I see… And I suppose there was no malicious intent when you leaned in and whispered into her ear?" She said suspiciously.

"Of course there wasn't any malicious intent." Feron dismissed. "I was just allaying her worries that I meant any harm."

Liara paused, no doubt rewinding and watching the vid-clip all over again. "I'm so glad we could clear up this harmless, little misunderstanding…" Liara said flatly. "Otherwise I'd be _livid _by this apparent betrayal of my trust."

She was taking this rather calmly. Too calmly, actually. And he had come to realize that her being calm was bad in situations like this. "Don't be like that, _siha_…" Feron said smoothly, turning up the charm. "You know I like my women blue, and you are so very, very… blue." There was a long pause between them as Liara raised an eyebrow. "I'm getting flak for this, aren't I?"

"For a half-assed line like that? Oh, like you wouldn't believe." Liara confirmed sweetly. "… _siha._" She added venomously.

"It was only incidental!" Feron protested. Liara just smiled at him in amusement. "Look, I'm not about to cheat on the one person capable of making my life a literal living hell. You have to believe me, Liara!"

"That's it, keep groveling..." Liara teased. Feron nearly winced; This wasn't the Liara he knew anymore, this was Dr. T'Soni the information broker. "If you beg hard enough, maybe I'll let you off with a _clean_ punishment? Maybe." The both of them just stared at each other, before she cleared her throat. "That was a hint. Beg."

"I don't think getting down on my knees will convey very well through this method of communication." Liara just stared at him blankly. "You're serious?" She merely just kept staring at him silently, and Feron sighed as he got down to both his knees. "I'm sorry I manhandled a naked woman who was pointing a gun at me behind your back." He droned as if each word had to be forced out of his mouth.

"Hmm, is that sass I hear?" she says rhetorically. "Every time I hear sass, it makes me want to flay somebody with my mind, and it feels like I haven't done any mind-flaying recently." Feron opened his mouth to protest, but he saw the beginnings of a smile on the edge of her lips. Well, he was out of the danger zone, for now anyway. "Time enough to discuss that when you get back here, _siha_." She said, giving him a quick wink.

"Only after you take a nap." Feron muttered as he got up, dusting off his knees.

"What did I just say about the sass, operative?" She said wryly.

Feron rolled his eyes. "Forgive me, Shadow Broker." They each shared a deadpan look for a moment or two before breaking out into subtle laughter.

"Please take care of yourself and my friends, Feron." She said.

"I'll do my part. I suppose it's time I let them in on our little secret, as well?"

"Yes, please do. Meanwhile, I'll keep on digging about what I can about our leads and who this 'Tarrana Ionet' really is." She said, looking as if she was already preoccupied with another holo-screen.

"Hey, Liara?"

"Yes?" Liara replied, pausing from her work.

"If this job seems like it is getting too heavy for you, just say the word and we can burn it all down."

"It's… a tempting thought." Liara began with a melancholic smile. "But somebody has to do this, Feron. And I'd rather it be me than some morally bankrupt scoundrel."

"We can't have that now, can we?" Feron replied. "Well, the offer is always on the table."

Liara giggled. "I'll keep that in mind." She said. "Oh, and Feron?"

"Yes?"

"Try to keep your hands to yourself this time, _siha_." She said with a hint of murder in her sweet gaze, which softened as she continued. "And come back to me in one piece."

"As you command." Feron said dryly, causing Liara to roll her eyes. "I will contact you again when we have the artifact, _siha_."

"Good luck." She smiled, and the transmission ended.

Feron couldn't help but smirk as he began severing the link to the Normandy's comms. Neither of them meant to escalate their relationship past friendship, but sometimes things happened. She liked him and he liked her; that sort of thing. Right now, they were in a sort of _trial_ period, and that was the first time Liara had acted so… possessive over him. He must be doing something right, he chuckled to himself. Well, there was time enough to entertain his fancies later. Right now, there was work to be done.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, in the Normandy's cargo bay…<p>

The engineers were working hard on repairing the gaping hole on the hull of the Normandy in the cargo bay. Sparks flashed from plasma torches and the occasional professional disagreement in opinions as the men and women carried out their jobs. Kenneth and Gabby were quick to insist that Tali should get some rest and leave heading the project to the two of them. Tali had relented eventually, seeing as how the bulk of the repairs were mostly rewiring and patch up jobs. The pair actually made quite a productive duo when they weren't at each other's throats, and the team as a whole was making great time on the projected schedule because of it.

Though whatever disagreement may come about, the team agreed on one thing: Not to disturb the large, agitated man in the corner who was working out his frustrations on the unfortunate punching bag that hung there.

Jacob pounded on the punching bag with all his might, the material around it actually starting to strain at the seams from the force of his blows. Right now, his head was weathering through a storm of emotions. What more did he expect, really? Miranda was a stubborn woman, and precious little could sway her to change her mind on any decision she made. Guess he didn't constitute part of the 'precious little' to her.

Guess he didn't constitute a lot of things to her, actually.

The thought made him lash out on the bag harder, fists slamming against the faux-leather plastic of the punching bag making the air crack in loud snaps. Deep down, he knew that rejection shouldn't have hurt him this bad. But goddamn it did he feel the need to vent right about now. He also probably messed up their friendship, too. Crap, he thought as he delivered another punch, that was going to be a daunting task to rebuild.

Maybe he would have taken it better had she said that she wasn't ready, or that she couldn't because of her past. But she just upped and spelled it out to him. She didn't love him. End of story. Any sane, rational man would just move on with their lives and get over themselves. But he was head over heels for her. So help him, even broken and rejected as he was right now, he was still in love with her.

And that pissed him off even more.

He didn't know how long he was punching that bag. Time seemed to lose it's meaning as he just stood there, punching with his left, and then his right. Left, right, left, right, over and over again, his fists recited the mantra his heart couldn't.

"You alright, Taylor?" A gruff voice said behind him, making him break his concentration. He was now aware of the dull ache in his hands and the light sheen of sweat that covered his body. Turning around, he saw Zaeed and Grunt, leaning against a couple of crates and looking back at him. Grunt had all sorts of light, fading scars running across his scaly hide, with bandages that wrapped around his body that probably held it together while his healing factor did its work. Zaeed looked a bit better, his injuries fully healed by the medigel and garbed up in his armor, but he still had some bandages wrapped around his arms and peeking out from underneath his armor.

"I'm fine, thanks." Jacob said dismissively, turning back to the punching bag. "What are you two doing here?"

Grunt scoffed. "I just sensed a pretty powerful killing intent in the air. Thought it was worth checking out." He said. "Turns out it's just you, moping."

Jacob punched the bag extra hard at that comment. "Well your curiosity's satisfied; feel free to get the hell out of my face about it."

Grunt just laughed, but Zaeed closed his eyes in deep thought. "So she dumped, eh?" he said bluntly, causing Jacob to slam the bag harder again.

"What are you talking about?" Jacob said coolly, trying to blow off the topic. "I just want to work out."

"Don't lie to me, Taylor." Zaeed persisted. "How do you feel?"

"How do you think I feel, old man?" Jacob snapped, causing several nearby engineers to back away. This was the last thing he needed right now; a pep-talk from the bluntest knife in the ship, and said knife was trying to poke around in some very fresh wounds.

"Like shit, probably." Zaeed responded as he pulled out a cigar, chomping it between his teeth and lighting it up. "Can't blame you if you feel embarrassed and-."

"I am not in the mood for this, Zaeed." Jacob said, stepping right up to the older man. "I appreciate what you two think you might be doing here, but I'd rather not be bothered right now."

Zaeed took a long draw of his cigar, puffing the smoke out into Jacob's face. "So you got dumped? Move on. She isn't the only woman in this damned galax-" He didn't finish the statement as Jacob punched him across the face, knocking the cigar from Zaeed's mouth and flooring the man.

Jacob seethed, but part of him was yelling what the fuck was he doing, hitting Zaeed like that? But the other part of him didn't care; it only knew that it felt good.

Zaeed got up to one knee, rubbing his face and spitting up blood. Was he smiling? Jacob asked himself. The older man reached around his armor and unclasped the locks that kept it on him. The armor fell unceremoniously to the ground, revealing Zaeed's own musculature, which was pretty damn impressive for a man of his age. His greaves and gauntlets were the next to go, and he stood up and rolled his neck around, eliciting a few cracks as he stepped up towards Jacob.

Grunt laughed as the two men stared each other down, and then the young krogan noticed the prying eyes of some of the engineers. "What are you looking at?" he said suddenly, causing the engineers to nearly jump in surprise. He stood up and started casually shooing them away, which was still a pretty terrifying sight when an 800lb krogan was doing it. "Come on, nothing to see here!" he said, waving them off. "Go on! You gear heads have better stuff to do than gawk!" Once the small crowd was dispersed, he turned around to gawk at the soon-to-be fight himself. "Hehehe."

What was he doing? Jacob asked himself, shaking his head as his reason finally pushed through past his emotions. "Zaeed, I'm so-" he didn't get to finish his sentence when Zaeed sucker-punched him in the gut, winding him. His face was then met by the older man's elbow, knocking him back a few feet but managing not to make him stumble to the ground.

Before he could protest, Zaeed fell upon him again with a barrage of punches that Jacob blocked by crossing his arms in from of him. The old man was quick like lightning as a few shots managed to get past his defense and make contact with his torso, landing with big meaty thuds. Zaeed jumped into the air and delivered a spin kick, crashing his foot right into his crossed arms and sending him tumbling back.

Jacob rolled along the floor and got up to a kneeling position. Before he could even catch his breath, Zaeed rushed him again, putting him solely in the defensive as he struggled to keep up with his blocks. The old man was good, he thought as he narrowly dodged a kick to the face. He could make out Alliance Marine CQC as well as a mish mash of other martial arts styles from across the galaxy in Zaeed's attacks. He certainly seems to have gotten around in his day.

"Come on! Fight back, you bastard!" Zaeed barked as he kept up the pressure. "Are you a man or a boy? No wonder she dumped you!"

Like a switch had been flicked in Jacob's head, he suddenly caught Zaeed's fist mid-punch and pulled on the arm to throw the man off balance. Catching the older man off guard, he balled up his free hand into a fist and slammed it right into Zaeed's face. "What the hell did you say to me, old man?" he sneered as Zaeed stumbled backwards.

Zaeed spat out some more blood and took a moment to get his bearings back. "Don't tell me your hearing has gone to shit now, too?" He taunted Jacob, blood and drool dribbling from his mouth and down his jaw. He raised his fists and took up a fighting stance. "You know what I said. Now what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to kick your ass." Jacob replied grimly, going into a fighting stance of his own. Zaeed simply smirked back, pissing him off some more. "And maybe stomp your face in, while I'm at it."

Grunt called out from the sidelines. "Less talking, more head-bashing!" he cried impatiently. As if on cue, the two men rushed at each other, trading blows and grapples as a full blown fight started. "Hahaha! To the victor go the glory and the blood!" Grunt announced cheerfully as the engineers who were still sneaking looks backed off completely.

* * *

><p>John Shepard breathed easily as Tali laid her head on his shoulder, the two of them lying down comfortably on his bed. It was a brief reprieve from the harsh reality they had to endure in the next few hours.<p>

"John?" Tali said, pulling him back from his thoughts.

"Yeah?"

"You know I'll support any choice you'd make, but why do we have to help Aria T'Loak retake Omega?" she said, propping herself up on her elbows to look him in the eyes. "She's not exactly a saint."

"Not a saint? Yeah, she's far from it, actually." Shepard confirmed. "But it's not about retaking Omega for Aria." He continued. "There's an old human saying; Better the devil you know than the devil you don't."

Tali tilted her head in confusion.

"When the Reapers hit, I'd rather we have as much allies that we could call upon to rally with us in defending the galaxy." Shepard explained. "She may be a gangster, but Aria T'Loak is the top gangster on this side of the Terminus. If we call on her to go to war with us, we'll have the support of not just her, but her constituents across the galaxy."

"If she has so many constituents, where are they now?"

"These gangsters respect one thing more than money: strength." Shepard continued. "It's not like Aria's forces are outnumbered here. They're only taken by surprise by the mercs. If she can't fight them off, then they'll see her as unworthy of their loyalty anymore and swear allegiance to the next big fish to take her throne. I'd rather Aria be on that throne than the Patriarch. More so because the Patriarch seems to be backed by Cerberus, of all people."

"And do you really think she'd answer your call when the Reapers hit?"

Shepard smirked. "Like I said, better the devil you know. We'll burn that bridge when we get there, but it doesn't hurt to have built goodwill with Aria."

"Well, what can I say? It sounds like a crazy long-shot of a plan." Tali just shook her head in amusement. "But when it comes to crazy, long-shot plans, I trust you, John."

"Thanks, that means a lot coming from you." Shepard replied, flashing her a small grin.

Tali crept up to him and touched his forehead with her visor, the closest thing she can do to replicate a kiss while she's wearing her suit. "It should." She said wryly. "Now, I wasn't kidding when I said I had a surprise for you."

The smile on Shepard's face faded a bit. "Should I be backing away now?" he asked nervously. Tali had previously established what she meant by 'surprise' by beating him up.

"I don't know, should you?" Tali asked haughtily, before giggling. "Relax; you're not going to be the battered boyfriend in this relationship. Not yet, anyway." She added teasingly.

"That's a relief." Shepard said with a nervous laugh. "So… Surprise?" he said, waggling his eyebrows.

"Hold on, let me get it." Tali said excitedly, crawling to the edge of the bed and reaching down to grab at something hidden beneath it. All the while, Shepard was treated to a good view of her quarian full moon as she fumbled for his surprise. "Almost got it." Tali said obliviously.

"Need a…" Shepard said, eyes following her wiggling backside. "Need a hand?"

"No, no, I'm quite fine here." Tali said.

"Yes, you are." Shepard muttered. "You are_ damn fine._"

"What was that, John?"

"Nothing."

"Ah! Here it is." Tali said, producing a small case from underneath the bed. She kneeled on the bed and shuffled towards Shepard, handing him the box. "Surprise." She said in an adorably awkward manner.

"Thanks." Shepard said as he looked the box over. "What's the occasion?"

"No occasion. It's just that I figured that rather than twiddle my thumbs worrying about you when you risk your life saving the galaxy, I'd be proactive and get something to help you." Tali said, rubbing her hands nervously as Shepard opened the case. "So I got you something I think you'll like."

Inside of the case was a small module. "What is it?" Shepard asked as he picked the black box up between two fingers.

"It's called an omniweapons suite. Here, let me help you install it." Tali took his right hand and activated his omnitool. Plucking the mod with her other hand, she slipped it into a slot on the device and began calibrating it into Shepard's omnitool. "It uses the same monofilament hard light technology that tech armor uses but utilizes it as a close combat disposable blade." She explained as she installed the program. A few moments later and there was a ping indicating the device had been fully installed. Tali backed away as the omniblade systems primed. "It's armed now." She said excitedly. "To activate it, you have to clench your hand into a fist and flick your wrist."

Shepard did as she asked, and he felt power surge through the omnitool as a twelve inch blade made out of orange light panels spun to life on his arm. "Whoa…" He said, sincerely amazed by the weapon. "I haven't seen anything quite like this before, Tali." He said as he got up from the bed, experimentally swinging the weapon, slashing through the air with a satisfying hum. "Where'd you get this?"

"I made it." Tali said proudly. "It's the latest in omni-tech; shouldn't be hitting mass retail 'til a couple of months from now. This is based on a prototype design by Stark Solutions. I… may have purchased the specs and parts from less than… legitimate sources while we were here on Omega…" she ended sheepishly.

Shepard was about to ask how he could deactivate the blade when he unclenched his fist, causing the blade to dissipate and collapse back into his omnitool. That's convenient, he thought. Tali crept up beside him and ran a hand over his omnitool, bringing up a holo interface from the omniblade's settings.

"When you're not using it, make sure the safety's on." She said, activating the safety toggle. "Otherwise it'd be pretty damn inconvenient if you lopped off somebody's arm while shaking hands with them."

Without warning, Shepard grabbed her arm and spun around, catching her in an embrace.

"Oh!" Tali squeaked in surprise as his arms wrapped around her waist, before breaking out in a fit of giggles.

"Miss Vas Normandy, you never cease to amaze me." He said. "Thank you for this, it'll come in pretty handy." Her visor obscured her face to the outside world, but Shepard knew her well enough to know that she was blushing. He touched his forehead to her visor and whispered. "I love you."

"Oh, John." She said. "I love you, too."

"Now I just feel sheepish that I didn't get you anything." He said, earning a playful slap from her.

"Don't be silly." She chastised. "You coming back to me in one piece is a good enough present for me."

"Well," Shepard shrugged. "That's going to make birthdays and anniversaries very convenient."

"Now let's not get carried away…"

They both laughed, managing to somehow fall back onto the bed, tangled in each other's arms. This was nice, Shepard thought. This was a life he could stand to live, together with Tali. Right now a life like that seemed distant, but if this was what he could look forward to when he could lay down his arms, then the Reapers won't know what hit them.

They lay there, smiling and just content to be in each other's arms. It was the best time either of them has had since the past couple of days, but reality had to rear in its feminine, synthetic voice to ruin the moment.

"Shepard." EDI said as her holographic avatar came to life on his wall. "There is a matter that requires your attention."

"Can it wait, EDI?" Shepard groaned as he looked to the AI.

"Jacob and Zaeed are engaging in a physical disagreement in the cargo bay."

Shepard sighed as he got up, annoyed at the developments. "Like a fucking kindergarten." He muttered, offering a hand to Tali who was giggling at him. "Care to join me play teacher to the rowdy kids?" he said with a wry smile.

"Eh, sounds fun." Tali replied with a chuckle, taking his hand. "I have to check up on the repairs anyway."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, back at the cargo bay, said bosh'tets were busy engaging further topics in their <em>physical disagreement<em>. Zaeed and Jacob traded blows as Grunt cheered on from the sidelines, enjoying the fight immensely. Both men were evenly matched as each strike was countered by a fluid dodge or a solid block and then repaid in kind.

Jacob leaned back to dodge a roundhouse kick aiming to knock his jaw off. He moved in to counter, but was pushed back as Zaeed recovered with a palm strike to the chest that slipped past his defenses, knocking him off balanced. The other man may be older, but that did nothing to diminish his skill, Jacob thought. Quite the contrary, it only reflected how skilled he really was to have survived in such a bloody business for so long.

Zaeed picked up the pace as he went with a punch combo, not giving Jacob room to breathe as he pressed his advantage. "Come on, boy!" he taunted, "Show me how angry you are!"

"You want to see how angry I am?" Jacob sneered as he countered Zaeed's combo with a punch that cut through his defenses, knocking the man away from him. "You asked for it!" Jacob was seeing red as he tackled Zaeed and slamming him into the ground. Mounting the man, he proceeded to pummel him with a flurry of blows. It was like a dam in his head broke, and all the repressed frustration and self-loathing he had harbored flooded out. Images flashed in his head with each punch.

His father; the man whom he thought was long dead, suddenly coming up alive as a depraved king of his own personal hell.

His life and career; a long record of impressive victories but rife with bureaucratic frustrations that impeded him at every turn.

His feelings for Miranda; apparently unreciprocated and driving him up the wall in some immature sense of rejection.

Yeah, that last one had to take the cake. That was all him, nobody else to blame. It took him a while to realize that he had stopped punching, and was just staring blankly down at his bruised hands.

"You done with your little temper tantrum or what?" Zaeed said flatly, causing Jacob to realize that after pinning the older man to the ground, he hadn't been punching back. All this time he had just been protecting himself with his arms as Jacob thrashed him. "Well?"

Realizing what he had just done and having spent all of his pent up frustrations, Jacob merely nodded, panting heavily as he rolled off Zaeed, lying on the floor next to him. "Yeah." He said tiredly. "Yeah, I'm done."

Only Grunt's booing at the anticlimactic end of their fight and the sounds of the engineers working in the background broke the silence that hung between the two men.

"Hey, Zaeed?" Jacob said, causing the older man to turn his head towards him. "I'm sor-"

"If you finish that statement, I will punch your teeth in." Zaeed replied, cutting Jacob off before he could finish his apology. "It's sad when a grown man acts like a teenager. Somebody had to beat you to your goddamn senses."

Jacob just laughed. "Fair enough."

Grunt booed louder, making sure his disappointment was clear. "You call that a fight? There was barely any blood!"

"So… do you regret it?" Zaeed said to Jacob, ignoring Grunt's protests in the background. Jacob just looked at him confused. "Confessing to Miranda, I mean."

Jacob turned his head to stare right into the far ceiling of the Normandy's cargo bay, and considered Zaeed's words. "No." He said after a few moments of thought. And he was sincere about it too. "It's… kinda nice, letting it all out like that. Sure, it didn't pan out how I wanted it to, but… I don't know…" he said, the post-fight high carrying his words. "After living the last couple of years of my life asking myself what could have been, it's good just to have some closure on it."

Zaeed just chuckled knowingly at Jacob's words.

"Hey, Zaeed?"

"Eh?"

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it. Now quit your goddamn moping." Zaeed said. "You know, I've been around, and I could hook you up with some of my lady frien-"

"Yeah, no thanks." Jacob said quickly.

Zaeed shrugged. "Your loss."

Grunt, who had been booing this whole time, suddenly went silent much to their relief.

"Ugh, that's better. Pup whines like a wolf cub; all blood thirst with no moderation." Zaeed said, quite relieved by the relative silence. "I was starting to get a worse headache than from that sucker punch you gave me."

"Yeah, small favors, right?" Jacob said. "The only person who could get him to calm down otherwise would be-." He stopped himself as realization dawned on him. "Goddamn it."

"Close, but no cigar." A third voice interjected. Shepard loomed over their field of vision as the commander looked down on them, hands on his knees and raising an eyebrow. "Gentlemen." He greeted them flatly.

"Shepard." They both greeted back in unison.

"So… Uh, what have you two been up to?"

"We were just sparring." Zaeed said quickly.

"Yeah, sparring." Jacob affirmed. "It's good for the nerves."

"Sparring? Of course you were…" Shepard nodded sagely. "Full contact sparring in a non-designated area… Seems legitimate."

"Well, you know how it is…" Jacob said noncommittally, shrugging as he and Zaeed got up gingerly.

"Right…" Shepard said, shaking his head in exasperated amusement. "Get yourselves patched up and suited up; we have a mission brief in an hour."

In the background, Tali just laughed as she proceeded to check up on the progress of the repairs.

* * *

><p>Miranda sighed as she cupped her face with her hands, sitting between Samara and Jack's bedsides as soon as Dr. Chakwas had given the okay to let in visitors into the medbay. The two biotics had yet to recover their consciousness, but their brainwaves and vital signs had been stable. She even double checked for herself, not out of lack of trust for Dr. Chakwas and Mordin's abilities, but for her own satisfaction. It was funny, she thought to herself. She wasn't a fanatic xenophobe like some, (hell, who was she kidding?), or rather most people who joined Cerberus, but she had believed in human-centrism. But after everything she had gone through with the Normandy's crew these past few months, she found herself legitimately caring about her squadmates, both alien and human alike.<p>

Not only that, but the very fact that she had started to openly reach out and care for people was very new to her as well. She had grown up keeping only a tight circle of people that she had trusted, and even that bit her in the ass. But now, now that she had opened herself up to others; it turned out to be quite nice. She had just started getting to know her younger sister after knowing about her for years. And when she tried, she even started to get along well with Jack, a woman who she was at odds with since the beginning of the Collector Suicide mission.

Then, there was the more advanced case of caring for other people.

There was Jacob. She cared for him very much, that was for certain.

But did she love him?

Probably…

Oh, of course she loved him.

But was she ready?

No, she told herself. No, she wasn't ready. She just had too much baggage with her, she told herself. Personal baggage; things that she couldn't just dump on anybody's lap so casually. It was something between her and her father. He was still out there, looking for his perfect little daughter of a legacy.

She had tried to establish a relationship with him earlier on, but it just wasn't working out. Rather, it was working out very well. Whenever they were together, she had always felt at ease. It was a very big change of pace considering how she had spent most of her life on the run. Jacob was a good man, too good for the likes of her to pull into her family drama. He deserved better.

It didn't matter now, though. She had already lied to him about her feelings, just as he was opening his heart out to her. She buried her face in her hands and groaned. She needed to keep strong, but it was becoming very, very hard to do so. Damn it, she wanted him, but it just wouldn't be fair. He deserved someone else who could give him more than what she could offer. He deserved-.

"Hey, Miri." A perky voice from the empty air in front of her said cheerily, almost causing her to jump out of her seat.

"Do you always have to introduce yourself via a heart attack, Kasumi?" Miranda said, annoyed by the woman's sudden appearance.

"Force of habit. My bad." Kasumi said sheepishly as she materialized into view. "How are they?" she asked, regarding Jack and Samara.

Miranda sighed as she composed herself. "They're fine. Just exhausted." She said curtly, giving each of the unconscious women a look over. Great, it just had to be Kasumi. It's not like she disliked the woman or anything. Kasumi was a very likeable person, whether she tried to or not. She exuded this mischievous charm that seemed to put people at ease, at least when she wasn't popping out of thin air with barely any introduction. She also happened to have been openly pining for Jacob the entire time that she had been aboard the Normandy.

Miranda had no business being jealous, not when she had just dumped Jacob in a very cold hearted fashion. In all fairness, Kasumi could just be the right woman for Jacob. It was just that she couldn't help feeling annoyed whenever she spoke to him, flashing her eye lashes and smiling ever so suggestively. But, now wasn't the time or place for that. Kasumi was here to visit Jack and Samara, so she considered it neutral territory, well, as far as she was concerned.

Kasumi pulled up a chair and sat next to her in between Jack and Samara. She sighed and leaned her head back, looking at the ceiling with a serious expression before turning to Miranda with a smirk playing on her face. "Hell of a night, huh?" she said.

Miranda couldn't help but chuckle despite herself. "Yeah, that's a fair summary of it." That and then some, she said inwardly in a much grimmer manner.

For a long while, they sat there together in quiet peacefulness, broken only by the occasional beeping of devices and the medical staff checking up on the patients. Miranda would have much rather continued their interaction in that fashion, but Kasumi opened her mouth, starting up a conversation.

"We can't seem to catch a break huh?" She said. "I mean, we just got done saving the galaxy and already we're embroiled in a whole new debacle."

"It would seem Shepard is indeed a magnet for galactic troubles, great and small." Miranda agreed.

Kasumi snickered. "I'm still holding out for those small problems."

Again, Miranda couldn't help but smile. Kasumi really was hard to dislike or at least play indifferent to. "Yeah, well after personally funding this whole operation on loan from your own pockets, you've no room to complain, Kasumi."

"Psh, there's always room to complain." Kasumi dismissed with good nature.

"You know, if you don't mind me asking, Kasumi…" she said carefully. "Why did you decide to stay on with us? You're a free-lancer, and all that."

Kasumi paused, pondering on the question for a few moments. Miranda was starting to fear that she had overstepped her boundaries when the other woman smiled and spoke again. "I guess it's because I owe it to Shepard to see at least this little excursion through." She said.

Miranda nodded knowingly. Shepard really was the keystone that binds them together. There was something about that man that changed the people around him for the good, Miranda included. And it said a lot about somebody when Shepard got a sociopathic time-bomb like Jack to re-embrace their humanity. She glanced towards the said sleeping woman with a smirk. Shepard really was a miracle worker.

"Also, I've come to really, really like you guys." Kasumi added, batting her eyelashes.

"Likewise." Miranda said sincerely. This was turning out to be nicer than expected.

"I… actually, I wanted to ask some advice from you." Kasumi said, her smile toning down until it was barely there. "If you don't mind me asking?"

Well, that took a turn for the worse; Miranda could think of only a few things that would constitute a woman asking another woman some advice. Yes, I do mind, Miranda thought. "Sure, what's on your mind?" She said out loud, trying not to wince.

"I… well, there's somebody who I think I like." She started out. "I mean _like_ like." She clarified sheepishly.

Well, no shit? Miranda thought, but she merely urged the other woman to continue.

"Anyway, I think it's mutual, but things just get awkward between us, and it's like something is keeping it awkward." Kasumi said, and Miranda thought she had a pretty good idea why. "I'm just confused right now. It all happened so suddenly, I don't even know if I could make it work… and we're both from very different backgrounds."

Miranda's expression tightened, but she controlled herself. So Jacob was entertaining Kasumi's advances, was he? The only thing that must have stopped him was her, she thought. This… This was a good opportunity to get Jacob uninterested in her romantically anymore. She had mixed feelings about that, but she ultimately steeled her resolve. "Go on…" She said consolingly, prompting Kasumi to continue.

"I… I think I like him, but I don't know whether to act on it or not." She said. "I've given Tali relationship advice myself, but it's different when you're experiencing the same dilemmas in the first-person perspective…"

Hasn't stopped you before, Miranda scoffed inwardly. But, she softened up once she saw Kasumi's face, all pretense of the smile gone, just a woman who didn't know what to do. She had been practicing on giving advice, finding herself in that role as big sister to Orianna. "Well, if you like him, what's stopping you?" she said softly.

"I don't know…" Kasumi said. "It's different than how I acted upon my feelings with Keiji. I'd usually go in guns blazing to confront him with my feelings bluntly. This is the first time a man made me feel like this. I don't know why. Maybe it's just hormones, or maybe something else. But I've never felt so… enthralled by a man's presence before."

Miranda couldn't help but drop the small sliver of jealousy that she was still holding on to. The way she spoke about Jacob, so sincere and affectionate. And all this time she had thought it was just lust elicited by his appearance. Not that she could blame Kasumi, though. "Are you… are you still mourning Keiji?" Miranda asked carefully.

Kasumi looked up at the ceiling. "Up until recently, yes… But Shepard helped me through that one." She smiled somberly.

"Well then, maybe it's just your heart's way of telling you that you're ready to love again." She said. "It's… difficult to let go, especially of something you hold dear. And when something does come along to fill that gap in your heart, it could get confusing at first, but you can't just be lonely forever."

"You think so?"

"That's for you to answer, now isn't it?"

Kasumi pondered over what they have just talked about. "Thank you, Miri." She said, practically blooming with romantic resolve. "I… You've given me a lot to consider…"

"Hey, what are friends for?" Miranda smiled. That was it. She had just handed Jacob to somebody on a silver plate. Somebody who could love and take care of him; somebody he deserved. It hurt, but it was for the best and better Kasumi than some stranger.

"I…" Kasumi said, standing up. "I need to think about this some more before taking it up with Garrus. Thanks again, Miri."

"Anytime." Miranda smiled as Kasumi walked away, fading out of existence as her cloak activated. It… hurt, giving away Jacob like that. But this was for the best. Now, she can rest easy knowing that- "Wait, wait… Kasumi?" Miranda suddenly blurted out as realization dawned on her. Too late though, as Kasumi seems to have made a quick exit. "Did she just say 'Garrus'?" she asked herself, confused by these developments.

She was only brought out of her daze when EDI's voice played over the intercom. "All ground team squad members be advised, there will be a mission briefing in one hour at the conference room. I repeat…"

* * *

><p>Sometime later, in the Normandy's conference room…<p>

"… And that is all we know about this foe that we are now unwittingly facing." Feron said as he finished up his presentation to the squad. "They are a cult worshipping a forgotten deity known as the Father. You've seen the… gifts He has bestowed upon his faithful first hand, haven't you, commander?"

Shepard was still trying to take it all in. After all that he's been through these past couple of years, hardly anything could surprise him anymore. "Yes… And you're telling me The Patriarch is of the same nature, and that this entire war was a smokescreen to cover up their true objective, correct?"

"Yes. For now we have only identified Tarrana Ionet and the Patriarch as the Father's children. Though we suspect that there is more, especially after last night's run in." He said, referring to his battle with Melina. "Which is why I chose not to divulge this information the moment I met up with you." Feron nodded. "I had to know for certain first that nobody here was acting under their influence."

"But what is their true objective?" Garrus asked.

"They seek an ancient artifact, possibly a relic from the time of the Father, hidden deep in Omega." Feron explained. "They too oppose the Reapers, but we do not know what their ultimate goal is. What we do know is that, like the Reapers, their goal is not beneficial for any living being in the galaxy."

Shepard nodded, and looked around the room to judge the expressions of his team. All of them still bore the pain and fatigue of a long, bloody night. Some were better off than others, but the medigel could only do so much, he thought. They had just been in a middle of debriefing last night's events when Feron had interjected to reveal this new piece of information. Shepard's gut feeling was correct. Something big was going on underneath the pretense of this coup. He just didn't expect it to be on the same level as the Collector threat, possibly even worse. "This is bigger than what we could have possibly imagined…" Shepard said to them. "I know you didn't sign up for this, but the galaxy is calling on us once again. Are you with me?"

On one side of the table, Thane was his usual calm self, standing at attention, listening with utmost intent whenever somebody spoke and throwing in his two cents every now and again. "This is a very disturbing turn of events, but I am with you, Shepard." Out of all of them, he was the one who came out mostly unscathed, which was saying a lot since he was with Shepard throughout most of the worse, even surviving their run in with Tarrana. "I can do some more good before my time is up."

Next to him was Grunt, whose body was bandaged up almost comically so, holding it together long enough for his regeneration to mend the torn flesh. He had enjoyed telling his experience with the asari named Melina, and was hoping he could find more of her kind out there to fight. After hearing Feron's news though, he could barely suppress the maniacal grin plastered on his face. "Ha! I wouldn't turn up an opportunity like this short of a cure for the genophage, battlemaster!" he cheered.

Mordin was busy with his datapad, nodding every so often at points being made when he wasn't the one speaking about his findings and observations. "Yes, yes… New information about the enemy enlightening regarding the state of specimen. " he said. "Entertained some sort of alien technology at work. May be able to narrow down the secret of their 'blessings' now."

"Good to hear." Shepard said. Looks like Mordin was in, Shepard chuckled to himself inwardly.

Jacob looked tired and haggard, and Shepard couldn't blame him. He was with him in the thick of it at the Afterlife, and anybody who could still step up to the task after something like that was worth his respect. Of course, he didn't know that that wasn't the only thing that was bothering Jacob. "I've been hankering for wrongs to right since I've joined the alliance, Shepard. Of course I'm in."

Garrus, however, in typical turian fashion, put up a strong front, not letting any signs show of him being worse for wear. He'd wince once or twice, but that was it. He folded his arms across his chest and looked at Shepard dead in the eyes. "Well I've tagged along this far with you and you seem to know what you're doing half the time." He said dryly, before turning completely serious. "I'm in, Shepard, no questions asked."

On the other side of the table, another one of his companions in last night's debacle, Zaeed, held an air of seriousness as he listened to the others. The man had that look in his eye that Shepard only saw once before, when he talked him into saving innocents rather than going after vengeance. "My paycheck covers up to that much, at least." He shrugged. "Consider my services yours."

"Zaeed…" Shepard began carefully, "You and I both know that Vido Santiago could be coming to Omega anytime now. I need to be sure I can count on you to put the mission up first."

"This again, Shepard?" Zaeed said dismissively. "Heh, you've got my word." He said grimly.

Beside him, Kasumi stood stiffly, her body still healing from her vicious thrashing and seemed to be concentrating very hard at something on the wall past Garrus. He had spoken to her earlier, but she just waved off his concern and told him she was fine, flashing him that trademark grin of hers. "Well, it sounds fun, at least." She said. "Plus the possibility of treasure? I'm in." Shepard had enough sense in him about women to know that it was mostly forced.

Miranda also seemed to be out of it, the last of his companions that was with him at the Afterlife. She was her usual professional self, but he could have sworn that she had an agitated edge around her whenever she spoke up for longer than a few seconds. "If what Feron says is true, then this is of grave importance, Shepard." She said. "Sign me up, as well."

Next to her, Legion only stood idly by, the geth's nature making him unreadable through its body language. It spent most of the attack assisting EDI in resisting the Cerberus virus that the Eclipse had assaulted them with, keeping it out of their control long enough 'til they could strike back. "We have reached a consensus, Shepard-Commander." It said. "Entity known as Father is a threat to the Geth. We shall aid you in its extermination."

Then there was Tali, whose efforts undoubtedly saved them all, freeing EDI from the virus and getting the Normandy space-worthy again. She only looked at him and nodded. "Of course I'm going with you." She said, as if she was insulted that he had to ask.

"Thank you." He said, smiling at her, before turning towards the rest. "Thank you, all of you."

In terms of injury, Samara and Jack were the worst off. They were absent from this meeting, still unconscious and recovering at the medbay. Dr. Chakwas had assured him that the pair of biotics were in stable condition. However they weren't medically cleared for the upcoming operation even if they were to wake up right now. The doctor said something about biotic strain and energy starvation, and that recovery was a simple process, it just wasn't quick enough to make them combat ready. In their place however were two perfectly suited substitutes from two different interested parties.

The first of which was Feron, another hanar-trained drell assassin. He was standing casually, hands clasped behind his back, carrying himself with the same relaxed but self-sure air that Thane exuded. No, he corrected himself, not the same; there were similarities, but only at a cursory glance. Where Thane was cool and calculated like a coiled spring, Feron was eager and certain, like a venomous snake. He was the leader of the Shadow Broker agents that had assisted them in Omega last night, and as of now, Liara's most trusted operative. He was only too happy to offer his assistance when Shepard had asked him to participate in the mission. Now, after hearing what Feron had to say, Shepard understood why.

Then there was the deposed ruler of Omega, Aria T'loak, who had graciously 'allowed' them to assist her in retaking the station. She stood next to him, arms folded, a look of impatience showing on her face but otherwise listened quietly to the debrief. The quiet whine of moving servos emanated from her new left hand, hidden underneath a black glove as its fingers wiggled idly, no doubt to get accustomed to the sensation. Out of all of them, she certainly had the roughest of last night and the most reason to be angry. To her credit however, and Shepard's surprise, she was handling her situation quite well. Even when Feron was sharing his information, she simply listened patiently. Aria may come off as brash and arrogant, but Shepard knew most of it was just for show. She was near matriarch age, carrying the wisdom of hard lessons learned throughout the centuries in her head that didn't leave her prone to indignant tantrums.

"I appreciate the gravity of this situation, Shepard." She began. "But according to the drell, an army from Cerberus is approaching Omega in just over 28 hours. Can I trust you to aid me after all of this is done?"

"Aria, there is more at stake here than-"

"I asked you if you could still aid me against Cerberus." Aria sneered.

Shepard was prepared to argue Aria down, but Feron spoke before he could proceed to do so.

"The Shadow Broker will supplement you with her own army of mercenary forces." Feron said.

"Oh? And why isn't this army here with you now?" she challenged him haughtily, glaring daggers at the Shadow Broker operative.

"Because we had no reason to bring them in at this point in time." Feron said flatly. "But if you promise your cooperation, I can assure you additional men to be under your command to bolster your own battle-weary forces against both the Mercenaries and the incoming Cerberus invasion."

"And how soon can you assemble this force?"

"An army can be assembled in as soon as 48 hours, and they can be here no sooner than 30 more hours."

"So you expect me to hold out for three days against a battle on two fronts?" Aria clarified. "And even If you do manage to scrounge up this army, and manage to beat the odds against both the mercs and Cerberus, you expect me to believe that you will leave Omega after the fighting is said and done, all in good faith?"

"What choice do you have?" Feron said, nearly causing Aria to scowl indignantly.

"Fine. I agree to your terms." She said reluctantly. "You have my support in this, Shepard."

Shepard nodded his head in approval, inwardly sighing in relief for having that issue smooth itself over. "Alright, so how do we go about doing this?"

Feron activated the holoprojector in the center of the conference room, displaying a map of Omega. "We can approach this in two methods: We eliminate the Patriarch and Tarrana Ionet before they can find what they are looking for, or we find it before they do."

Thane spoke up at that. "But before we can do any of those, we have to find a way inside first."

Garrus scratched his scar as he analyzed the map. "That's easier said than done. Mercs have got the whole place sealed up. We'll have to fight our way through, and even then it will be too risky. They'll over run us as soon as we get past any entrance we can find."

"Not only that," Jacob added. "But we're seriously lacking in firepower here. We need to go find some guns and gear, Shepard. What we have left can't carry us through this entire thing. Maybe hit up an enemy armory first?"

Aria stepped up and manipulated the map of Omega, flipping it around and zooming in. "You all forget who you have on your side, here." She said as she started to magnify a location on the map. "There is a hidden space port, leading to a safe house that only I know about. I have gear and vehicles enough for a small army stashed there, as well as the assurance that our coming will be undetected."

Garrus frowned as he looked at the location on the map. "This is in No Man's Land." He said flatly. "You constructed a safe house in No Man's Land? I'm impressed."

"I'm not here to impress you, I'm here to make sure you get the job done." Aria replied.

"What's this 'no man's land'?" Shepard asked.

Garrus crossed his arms and explained. "Not all of Omega is populated. There are large portions of the station that are lawless, abandoned districts that only the vorcha or the fool hardy tread on. The largest of which is No Man's Land." He said, pointing at the map. "Parts of it are exposed to the vacuum of space and devoid of power. The odds of there being any mercs to greet us there are slim to none, but there will be other dangers as we make our way to the populated districts of Omega."

"I said undetected, not completely safe." Aria said, waving off Garrus' concerns. "You needed an entrance into Omega, I'm giving you one."

Miranda analyzed the location. "It's risky, but it's the highest chance of success that we have to infiltrate the station, Shepard."

"Then it's settled." Shepard said, looking at the location on the map. "EDI, relay these coordinates to Joker. I want us there yesterday."

"Understood, Shepard." The AI chimed in.

"As for the rest of you, suit up. We're heading out ASAP." He announced.

Next stop: No Man's Land.


	35. Welcome to No Man's Land

Chapter 34: Welcome to No Man's Land

* * *

><p>The industrial district of Tartagus usually bustled with workers who were busy slaving away in the hellish factories and work houses that were crammed in the smog-filled hub of Omega. Within these chambers lie the heart of Omega's economy, producing anything from steel girders to illegal weaponry and bootleg eezo cores. Criminal syndicates responsible for the distribution of the illegal goods ran the district like slavers, and the workers were little more than contractual prisoners. They would toil for hours upon hours, day in and day out, producing raw materials and anything else that could be salvaged from the scrap that littered the asteroids around Omega. They did this all for as little as a few credits a day, if anything at all.<p>

But that was then.

Now, the district was filling up with Blue Suns mercs, driving away the gangs and the workers as they forcibly and violently claimed several large factories and warehouses as their new base of operations. The quick footed were able to get to safety before the Suns started gunning down those too slow or too stubborn to comply. Some tried to resist, but they only resisted briefly against the might of the Blue Suns.

As the violence reached its peak in the background, Commander Lucas Miller and his benefactor, The Patriarch, walked casually down the halls of a large factory, stepping over the bodies of the dead and dying as they inspected the place.

"Yes…" Miller said, scratching his scarred chin, looking around appraisingly. "Reinforced structural frame, highly defensible positions, not to mention able to withstand a high-yield explosion from without or within… Yes, I think this one will be my new main HQ."

"You have a good eye on you, Miller…" The Patriarch remarked as he walked alongside the man. "Yes, this place should be suitable against any future attempts at sabotage… And this time, by the enemy." He said flatly, causing Miller to snicker.

"Give me enough time and I can do terrible wonders to this place."

The plan had been flawless. Several hours ago, the pair of them orchestrated a trap that eliminated every single Blue Suns Commander on Omega in one fell swoop. Every single commander was wiped out, of course, except for Miller himself. That meant that he was now the highest ranking Blue Suns officer in Omega, giving him full control of the operation up until Vido Santiago himself were to set foot on Omega, but that was still a long time coming.

Their story went that a small force of Aria's loyalist had infiltrated into the heart of the Blue Suns HQ and planted a high-yield bomb just as the commanders were gathering. It was probably in hopes of beheading the Blue Suns by eliminating its leadership, giving Aria's men an opportunity to rally. The Blue Suns commanders were capable soldiers, however, and managed to stand their ground and even overpower the intruders. When they were beaten down to the last few men, this prompted the enemy to just deploy a failsafe measure, taking the entire base out with them in a sea of fire.

Miller couldn't help but grin with self-satisfaction. It was a ridiculous cover story; that much was for certain. Any Blue Suns officer worth their salt knew enough to put two and two together to see that it was a blatant power grab. They would have, anyway, were it not for his near perfect alibi. Who would suspect the cripple and the old krogan, gunned down by the enemy as they tried to escape the carnage? Some random bodies thrown into the gunship made it seem like they weren't alone either, or better yet, helping the other patients of the medical wing escape.

Either way, they had bought it, hook, line and sinker. Hell, maybe even the entire boat, too. The idiots actually bought his story, and allowed him to take charge of the whole damned operation.

There were dissenters against this course of action, of course, but the majority were only all too eager to accept this change. It didn't hurt that with the commanders gone, a lot of second and third in commands were up for promotion very soon. Still, the main point of dissent was Miller's current condition after the 'accident', specifically his gaining back the ability to move his body again.

They couldn't blame him for that one, Miller thought. That part was all the Patriarch's doing. Miller flexed his hands then clenched his fists as he assured himself again that this was not a dream. The energy that he could feel coursing through the veins of his body was exhilarating as well as terrifying, and very, very real. Underneath his armor, his body was wrapped from head to toe in bandages for wounds that have long since healed beneath them. Whatever the Patriarch had done to him, it was wholly unnatural and turned him into something that wasn't human anymore.

That being said, he liked it a lot. But he did not like it enough to not ask questions.

What did the Patriarch do to him?

What did the Patriarch want and what did he get out of it?

The Patriarch had an endgame in mind to which he was not privy to. All Miller knew was that giving him this position of command was somehow benefitting the old krogan. He wasn't a man that was very keen on details, but as it stood now, he only remained alive at the Patriarch's pleasure. He needed some way to make that deal a bit more permanent, even after the Patriarch gets what he wants.

He looked over to the old krogan, trying to read the placid expression on his craggy, scarred face. Huh, easier said than done. Miller's comm beeped, bringing him back from his thoughts and alerting him of an incoming transmission from one of his captains. "Commander Miller, here." He answered.

"Sir, we've secured most of the district, permission to begin setting up technical assets?"

"Granted, captain." He replied. "Also, I'd like the command center set up on my coordinates."

"Understood, sir." The captain replied. "What should we do with the prisoners, sir? The ones who tried to fight back?"

"Prisoners?" Miller scoffed. "Did I say we would be taking prisoners, captain?"

"Uh, no sir…"

"Then deal with it. Creatively, mind you. Miller, out." He said, cutting off the comm and turning back to speak to the Patriarch. "Well, now that we've taken over this place…" he began. "What now?"

"Now?" The Patriarch said, "Now we go to the next phase of the plan."

"Ah, good. Well, it would be helpful if you let me in on what this plan actually _is_." Miller replied, earning an almost disapproving glare from the Patriarch. "Just a thought." He added.

The Patriarch looked him over, and Miller didn't flinch nor shy away. A moment later, that earned him a smirk from the other man. "Tell me, Miller." He said as they stepped into a large room filled with imposing industrial machines. "Are you a spiritual man?"

"Spiritual?" Miller said, an amused grin crawling onto his face. "Tell me, Patriarch… What part of me says anything about spirituality?"

"Absolutely nothing at all… You are a wicked man, Lucas Miller. You lied, cheated, killed and raped your way throughout your life. You are aware of this yet you do not repent. Rather, you glorify in your wickedness, breathing it in like one would need to breathe this stale, Omega air." The Patriarch said, pausing as he clasped his hands behind him. "Do you even remember the first man you killed?"

"I killed my first man when I was 13… Dad didn't even see it coming when I splattered his brains across the wall with a pipe." Miller shrugged. "So, guilty as charged, I suppose. But then again, isn't this a case of the pot calling the kettle black?" he said casually.

"Yes. Yes, I suppose I am also a wicked man, Miller. And should we compare notes, my own sins from my very long life easily dwarfs whatever you may have done in yours… That's the plight of the living, you see? The sins of man are ingrained to its existence. To exist gives the capacity for evil, and evil only comes from those who exist."

"Huh, that sounds too deep for my liking." Miller said. "I just do what I like. If I have to trample over a dozen school children to get what I want, so be it. Their lives aren't my problem."

"Huh… I see the appeal in such a lifestyle. I've lived it, even." The Patriarch mused. "But after so long, you realize that there must be more to it…"

"What's your game then, redemption?" He asked bluntly. Miller wouldn't be surprised if it was. The Patriarch was pretty barbaric, even by krogan standards. He was also very old, even by krogan standards. And if anything could make a man re-evaluate his life, it was impending death.

"Redemption? No. Not redemption. It's far, far too late for somebody such as me. You can't redeem the oceans of blood I have shed. The souls I've extinguished." The Patriarch said dismissively. "No… Redemption is a child's folly. I aim for _absolution_, Miller."

"Absolution? By doing what, exactly? Helping trigger a violent coup and using those you can manipulate while trampling on anybody else in your way?" Miller asked, unable to stop himself. "I'm no theological scholar, but I know that two wrongs don't make a right." Great, now he's getting sucked into it. Miller hated all this deep talk about philosophical bullshit.

"I'm not trying to make things right." The Patriarch countered. "I'm trying to make things the way they ought to be."

Well, that was cryptic. Miller was starting to feel sorry he asked. He absolutely just hated these high strung talks about visions and what have you. Still, he had a lot riding on this. "And in this world where everything is the way they ought to be… Where does that put me?"

"You will be where you should be." The Patriarch replied. "As will I and everybody else."

Miller frowned. "You didn't answer my question."

The Patriarch merely scoffed. "I did."

"You didn't answer it _well enough_." Miller scowled, pressing the issue. Before he could say anything else, he felt something squirm in his chest… grasping his heart from the inside. "What the-?" A split second later, it squeezed his heart, causing him to drop to his knees, clutching his chest in pain and surrendering to a coughing fit. The pain was unbearable, radiating across his whole torso. Spittle laced with copious amounts of blood splattered to the floor from his mouth as he hacked and coughed.

The Patriarch merely looked at the suffering man unperturbed. "_I did_."

Miller gasped for air, his vision darkening as white spots danced in front of him and his pulse drumming frantically in his ears. The pain seemed to go on for an eternity, before eventually, whatever gripping his heart finally decided to let go. The pain slowly subsided, but Miller was left drained of his strength, leaving him lying on all fours on the floor, gasping for air.

"If you're quite satisfied with the answers to your questions, get yourself up." The Patriarch said flatly. "We have much to do in so little time."

Miller groaned, spitting up a last wad of blood as he got up, wiping the corners of his mouth with the back of his hand. His face slowly twisted into a scowl as he stared the Patriarch down, who didn't even care in the slightest at his look of defiance. "Yes, sir." He managed to say as cold as possible.

"Very good." The old krogan replied, seemingly satisfied by his answer. "Now, gather the army within the next hour. You will address them."

"Eh?" Miller said, the sudden order taking him out of the moment. "I don't know if you've heard, but public speaking isn't exactly my strong suite. I'm more of a lead by example kind of guy."

"Hmmm… You let me worry about that." The Patriarch said. "You will speak to them, and you will know what to say. The Blue Suns need to hear from their leader. We're going to take this war one more level higher."

Miller wanted to say something else, but the Patriarch had already begun to walk away. Sucking up the pain, he got up to both his feet and shambled after the old krogan. This whole deal was starting to get shittier and shittier by the minute. He was a tool, a means to an end. But he was still alive. He just had to make sure it stayed that way.

* * *

><p>The Normandy was currently traversing through what Garrus called the 'dark-side' of Omega; a portion of space outside the station that no ship dared passed through. It was with good reason, as a cloud of debris and small pieces of scrap filled the entire area that the Normandy seemed to be swimming in it. The only reason that the ship wasn't being torn to shreds was because of the shields and heavy armor plating beneath it.<p>

Joker clicked his tongue in annoyance as dozens of proximity alerts popped up on his console. "All hands be advised, blast shields are up. Divert all secondary power to the kinetic shields." He said as armor plating rolled over the cockpit and the viewports of the Normandy, sealing it away from the outside. "Let's keep her nice and steady; don't want to scratch up the paint job more than it already has."

EDI's avatar appeared beside him, something that Joker had become less annoyed by and more accustomed to. "That would be the least of our problems, Mr. Moreau." She said. "According to my analysis, once shields fall, it will take the debris a matter of minutes to shear past the hull armor when flying at cruising speeds. Resulting hull breach would be devastating, with projected casualties to be at over 45% dying from vacuum exposure in the initial 127 seconds. The rest will succumb in the next 245 seconds afterwards when the ship is ripped apart by the sudden change in pressure."

Joker had to face-palm. That just went live on the PA, he thought to himself, mortified. "Thanks for the information, EDI." He said, rolling his eyes and cutting off the feed before she could do more damage to the crew's morale.

"But don't worry. While the rest of the crew dies slow, horrible deaths, you would be obliterated into paste and die instantaneously as the razor sharp edges of the shrapnel-like debris burst into the cockpit and tore into your flesh."

"_Thank you_, EDI." Joker said through grit teeth, cutting her off from her morbid analysis.

"Should I survive, I would keep the pieces of you in the fish tank so I can see you every day."

"What?"

"That was a joke."

"That was a _joke_?" Joker just had a confused look on his face. "EDI, there are dark jokes and just plain dark. What does that even mean?!"

"I would suggest you keep your focus on the flying, Mr. Moreau." Edi said. "Unless, of course, you would prefer being obliterated into paste as a better alternative."

"I'd prefer a mute button."

"Would you like to know what I would prefer?"

"I… I'm ignoring you right now."

"On your knees. Yes, that would be my preference." The AI spoke, almost musingly.

"These things that come out of your mouth." He said for a lack of a better term. "Do you even process them before speaking?"

"Yes. I analyse my statements an average of 1,326 times before speaking and choose the ones that would get the most reaction from you."

"Alrighty then…" Joker sighed. "Great, the toaster is ribbing me and getting off on it. Hold on, I think I have a visual on our drop off point on one of the cameras…" Through the sea of scrap, the hull mounted camera outside was able to make out a series of blinking green lights. The only lights throughout this abandoned part of Omega.

"I have calculated a pathway through the debris and displaying it on your console." EDI said, her tone unchanged but somehow it was now all business. "You may follow it on your leisure, Joker."

"Thanks. Making my approach. Keep docking protocol on standby." Joker said as he yoked on the controls. "Well, time to let the boys and girls know that playtime is almost here."

* * *

><p>The light was blinding, and all he could hear was the high pitched ringing in his ears. The light slowly started to dim, and the scene slowly bloomed back into his vision. As his head lolled about, other sounds rose above the ringing in his head.<p>

Gunfire.

Explosions.

Muffled screams.

Shepard shook his head as the shell shock wore off, picking himself up on the ground as he scoured the still smoking wreck of the APC he was riding on. A hand clasped on his shoulder, and he turned to see one of his men pulling him back down to a crouch, just in time as a barrage of bullets flew overhead.

His mouth was moving, but all Shepard could hear were muffled cries that seemed to come from far away. The man shook him, his face full of panic. Slowly but surely, however, Shepard's senses started to sharpen and focus back into reality, thrusting him right back into the chaos of the battlefield. "-ir!? Sir!? Are you alright?!" The man said in panic, shaking him.

Shepard brushed him off gruffly. "Easy, Rogers! I'm fine!" he barked over the sound of gunfire and explosions, dirt and debris intermittently raining over them as the ground shook. He took a moment to make sure that he was alright, going over his vitals on his omnitool and wiggling his toes to see that his legs were still of use."Give me a sit-rep, soldier!"

"We have high casualties, sir! Echo, Lambda and Foxtrot squads were wiped out in the initial barrage!" The man said in panic as they both huddled behind cover, bullets whizzing over their heads. "Half of Hotel squad is dead and dying and we haven't even heard from Charlie or India squads! Alpha, Bravo and November squads were spared the brunt of the attack and are now the only things keeping the enemy from overrunning our position!"

"Damn it!" Shepard cursed through grit teeth as he fumbled for a weapon, taking an assault rifle from a mangled corpse. "What about Whiskey, Zulu and Tango squads?!"

"Already en route for extraction, sir!" Rogers said proudly.

"Extraction?! On whose orders?!" Shepard demanded.

"I'm sorry sir! You were unconscious! We're being slaughtered by the dozens! I thought the worse and- urk!" The man yelped, struggling to keep his throat from being crushed.

Shepard pulled the man close to his face and sneered menacingly. "Listen to me, Rogers." He began coldly, eyes burning with fury as he stared the younger man down. "You do something like that again and I'll shoot you for insubordination. Am I clear?"

"Bu-But sir!"

"What the fuck did I just say?" Shepard said, shoving the barrel of the assault rifle under the man's chin. "I came here to kill some batarians, and I'm not leaving Torfan until each and every one of those filthy animals is left in an unmarked open grave, to be feasted by the vermin of this fucking backwater planet." Shepard continued. "And I'm prepared to do whatever it takes… Understood, son?"

Rogers gulped. "Yes, sir."

"Alright, now patch me through to the men." He said. "We're bringing these bastards down, no matter the cost!"

"Shepard?" A female voice said, echoing in from the distance.

"Shepard?"

"Shepard!"

* * *

><p>"Huh?" Shepard said as he turned to face Tali. He was inside his quarters, suiting up with the <em>fourth<em> new set of armor that he had acquired in the last couple of days or so. It was another set of light armor that Feron had given him because he had all but scrapped his last ones, two of which almost consecutively. Bearing red Shadow Broker regalia, it was mainly white with black trim. "Oh, sorry, Tali." He apologized.

Tali tilted her head just enough to let him see past her glazed visor and see a raised eyebrow on her face. "Welcome back to the world of the living."

"Sorry, just got taken by my thoughts." Shepard said as he adjusted the straps of the light armor he was wearing.

"Anything you want to talk about?"

"I was just… It's nothing."

"John…" Tali said. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"Hey, don't worry about it." He said, grinning reassuringly. "I was just… remembering things that are best left in the past."

"Is it…" Tali began carefully in a hushed tone. "Is it about Torfan?"

"Heh, got it in one." Shepard said with a sad smile. "Am I that easy to read?"

"No." Tali said, shaking her head. "I just know you better than most."

Shepard just smiled as he slipped on the armor's gauntlets around his forearms. Tali walked up next to him and helped adjust the clasps and straps. He had done it thousands of times unassisted, but he knew she was helping him not because he needed it. She was helping him slip into his armor because she just wanted to. It was one of the few things they could do as a couple that had some semblance of normalcy, strange as it may sound.

"Well, are you going to tell me?" She said expectantly as she twisted a cuff on his elbow, earning a pressurized hiss from it as the gauntlet locked onto the rest of the armor in an airtight seal. "Or am I prying?"

"Hey… I promised you there would be no secrets in this relationship, right?" Shepard said as he cupped her face in his hand. He lightly touched his forehead to her visor, leaving it there for a few seconds before pulling back. "I… I was remembering one of the soldiers under me. A man named Rogers." He said, then snickering mirthfully. "Man? Hell, he was still a kid, really; A greenhorn with only a couple of years of peace-time service under his belt. He was the one who pulled me out of the wreckage when the batarians blew our APC up to kingdom come and shit hit the fan." Shepard shook his head. "He was a good kid, young but promising. But you know how the story goes… I got him killed… along with the rest."

"John..." Tali said quietly.

"They call me the Butcher, Tali. And it's not just because of the dozens of batarian lives I took that day." He continued. "It's also for all the lives I got killed under my command. I was driven by so much hate because of what the Batarians had done to my family that I… I made that mission personal. And damn it… I was willing to give the lives of those men just so I could kill those batarians…" He paused, turning his gaze to the floor. "Sorry, I thought I was past this… But I'm thinking about it more and more, recently. It's… It's like I can't get it out of my head."

"John, look at me." Tali said, touching his chin with one hand and gently turning his face towards her. "We can't change or run away from our past, but we can't live in them either. We can only take it for what it is and carry the burden with us. We learn from it and we go forward…"

"I know, but some burdens are heavier than others…"

"That's why we have loved ones to help us carry it."

"I can't ask that of you, Tali." He replied, earning him a playful flick to his nose.

"The point is you don't have to ask me. I'll do it because I love you." Tali said, walking around him to stand behind his back, working on the clasps and straps of the chest piece, ensuring that it too is sealed airtight. "I accept you for who you are and what you did, both past and present, both butcher and John. The dead can't forgive us anymore, but you can forgive yourself."

"Yeah… Yeah, I suppose you're right." Shepard relented. "Either way, that should be the least of my worries right now…" Shepard said, trying to change the subject. "I mean, really, it fades in comparison to what Feron told us about what was really going on in Omega."

"Well, there are a few things that could possibly be more taxing than some secret cult, possibly of the doomsday variety, working behind the shadows with malicious intent." She replied playfully, walking around him to face him once more. When she spoke again, a slight tone of fear crept into Tali's voice. "That woman, Tarrana… Feron says that she was a member of that cult. Do you think that all of them are… like her?"

Shepard looked her in the eye. Even behind the tint of her visor, he knew just where to lock his stare into. "I hope not… But it doesn't matter." He said. "Whatever they are or whatever they're up to, we'll stop them."

"Well, after facing Sovereign and the Collectors, if anybody can do it, it's you."

"_Us_." Shepard corrected her. "If anybody can do it, it's _us_. I could have never achieved any of those feats alone. But if it's all of us, we can definitely do it. No doubt in mind."

"Well…" Tali said as she picked up Shepard's helmet, slipping it over his head. "You should save the peptalk 'til we're in front of everybody else." She said, securing the helmet to the collar of the armor. "Hold still, John."

Shepard's vision went dark for a moment before the helmet clicked, booting up its HUD and linking up to his omnitool. "Thanks."

"You can thank me by remembering this is _light_ armor." Tali said. "It won't be able to take the usual amount of punishment you expose yourself to. Be careful."

"Don't worry, it's just a placeholder. Aria said she has a suitable replacement for me once we reach her safe house."

"That's not what I meant…"

"I know; I'll be careful. Besides…" Shepard clenched his right fist and the omniblade spun to life, sprouting from his wrist. "Thanks to a special somebody, I got a new trick up my sleeve." Tali tilted her head and Shepard could only snicker in reply.

It was at this point that EDI's voice chimed in once more. "Shepard, we will be arriving at our destination in 5 minutes and 32 seconds and counting."

"Thanks EDI, tell the ground team to assemble in front of the airlock, asap." Shepard said, then turning to Tali. "We've got to get a move on, as well."

"Alright, what will you be taking?" Tali said as she walked towards the far wall and activated her omnitool, waving it in front of her. A panel slid back, revealing a rack of guns; Shepard's personal armory.

"Just give me my standard load out." Shepard said. "But there'll be plenty more guns at Aria's."

"Copy that, you mooch." She snickered, grabbing an assault rifle and laying it down on the bed.

"Thanks." Shepard took a moment to check the gun's specs, before collapsing it into standby mode and storing it on his back. He looked to see that Tali had also laid down a pair of carnifexes for him on the bed. After running another quick check on those, he twirled them in his hands and stored them on his hips.

"Let's not forget the best for last." Tali said as she hefted a couple of shotguns in her hands, tossing the other one to Shepard.

Shepard caught the weapon mid-air and checked its specs, before storing it on his back. "Well, ready to earn our salt?"

"Salt? Is that another human pop-culture reference that always goes over my head?" Tali asked, running a quick diagnostic scan on her gun.

"Back in the day, ancient Roman legionnaires were paid in salt instead of gold." Shepard explained, earning a curious look from Tali. "My older sister was a hard-core history nerd, and she loved reading up on the Roman Empire. If she were still alive, she might've enlisted with me, too." As he spoke, his mind was slowly creeping away from the good memory of her life to the scarring one of her death at the hands of the batarian pirates that raided their home. But Tali was one step ahead of that thought process, and she spoke quickly to keep him in check.

"Another one of you? And a _female_ to boot? The galaxy would be long gone before the Reapers could show up." She replied, both of them sharing a good laugh out of it. "I would have loved to have met her, John."

"Jane would have loved meeting you, too." He said with a sad smile.

"Well then, let's bust a few heads in her honor tonight." She said, storing the gun on her back and locking her fingers together, eliciting a satisfying crack from her knuckles.

Shepard chuckled. "Yep, she would have definitely loved meeting you."

* * *

><p>A few minutes later and Shepard found himself facing a small ground force of soldiers comprised of his team and Feron's operatives. It was a tight fit to get them all lined up in front of the hallway that led to the airlock, but they had somehow managed it. Everybody was there except for Jack and Samara, who were still incapacitated in the medbay, and Mordin who opted to stay behind and continue digging through the specimen in his lab for anything that might prove useful against Tarrana and her ilk. Almost all of them had donned some kind of armor or pressurized suit for the nature of this operation; even Miranda had traded in her usual cat suit for some black light armor. Then again, Aria, Tali, Kasumi, Thane and Feron still wore their usual gear, preferring their mobility over added protection.<p>

It has been a while since Shepard commanded this many men at once, having operated with a small 3 man squad almost exclusively for the past few years. The last time he had done so was back on Torfan.

"Alright soldiers, listen up." He said, trying to lock his gaze on each and every man and woman present if even just for a second. "Right now, we're going in blind. Quite frankly, even I don't know what we're getting ourselves into. So here's our short term game plan." Shepard said, pacing back and forth. It was a simple, straight forward plan, and no doubt it would change as soon as they made contact with the enemy. But it was the best that Shepard could do with what he's got right now. He'd make it up as he went along. "Our first priority is to secure Aria's safe house, find out what's been going on in the station and make our way into Omega proper. Once we've done that, we're splitting up into teams." He stopped his pacing and looked towards Feron. "Feron, I need you and your men to do what you do best. Be our eyes and ears. Find out what the enemy wants and where we can find it."

Feron nodded curtly, sporting a new brown long coat around his shoulders and his sword in its sheathe, tucked securely on his waist. His face was hidden by the recon hood he wore, his visor glowing a dangerous red. "Of course."

Shepard returned the nod and continued talking. "Alright, meanwhile I and the rest of the team will work with Aria in coordinating with her forces." He said, gesturing to the very definition of murderous intent wrapped up in a very feminine form to his right. "We'll give the enemy something to focus on while Feron's team do their digging."

Aria eyed him with her usual bored yet determined expression. "You're reducing my part in this whole operation into what? A smokescreen, Shepard?" she said dangerously. The silent whir of her mechanical fist opening and closing lent an almost eerie undertone to her otherwise threatening disposition.

"You are getting what you want, Aria." Shepard replied, unperturbed. "Does it matter if I get something out of it, too? Besides, this situation could be an even bigger threat than what Omega is already facing."

Feron stepped up. "It _is_ a bigger threat. Not just to Omega but to the entire galaxy." He said coolly, weathering Aria's piercing glare.

Aria merely scoffed, saying nothing more to them, which was probably as good as any consent that they could get out of the woman.

Shepard had to hold off a sigh. It wouldn't have been good for morale if he had done it in front of the others. Aria was going to be a wildcard in this operation. She acted the haughty femme fatale, but Shepard knew that most of it was just for show to throw off others from her true intentions. Whatever happens, he knew he could count on Aria on one thing though: She would do whatever it took to save her kingdom.

Joker's voice played through the PA. "Commencing docking procedures." He said as the ship shook a bit, the airlock locking on into the lone docking port on this side of Omega. "Pressurizing the chamber… Docking operations successful." He said. "Anytime you're ready, commander."

"Thanks, Joker." Shepard said as he made his way to the airlock, the small troop of soldiers behind him following suit.

EDI chimed in, "I have run a scan on the local atmosphere. Oxygen levels are down by 20%, but I detect no toxins in the air. I would advise that you keep your helmets on regardless, commander."

"Noted" Shepard said as he pulled out his rifle, turning around to gesture to several people. "Aria, Grunt, Garrus, Tali, Jacob, we're taking point. The rest of you, wait for the all clear." This was uncharted territory; no sense putting everybody at risk. If the worst case scenario happens, the others could bail them out.

The six of them stepped up to the airlock door, guns raised and ready to open fire.

Tali cleared her throat, catching Aria's attention. "So, I thought this place was supposed to be a secret hiding spot that only you knew about?" She said. "What exactly are we preparing to shoot?"

"You can't be too careful." Aria replied. "After what the Patriarch did to me with his little coup, I wouldn't be surprised if there's an army on the other side of this door." She said. "Or a bomb."

Jacob raised an eyebrow at that. "How likely is that scenario?"

"Next to none… But I haven't been in here for a couple of years, so it's anybody's guess." Aria said, looking down the barrel of her pistol. "Besides, the vermin may have let themselves in."

Tali tilted her head. "Vermin?"

Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Vorcha."

Jacob just rolled his eyes. "Of course there'd be vorcha."

Grunt grunted in disgust at the word. "Ugh. I hate vorcha. It doesn't taste bad going down, but it's the aftertaste that will make you want to wretch out your guts."

Garrus managed to remain deadpan while everybody else showed their disgust on their faces. "You've eaten vorcha before?" he asked flatly, raising an eyebrow.

"Nah, it's in the memories of Warlord Thrakk the Insatiable." Grunt said dismissively. "That bastard Okeer imprinted me with _very_ detailed memories. Some of which I'd rather he didn't."

Shepard just chuckled as he raised a fist to signal them. "Settle down guys, eyes on the prize." He said. "Joker, open the hatch."

"You got it, commander. Give 'em hell."

"Always."

There was a hiss of air escaping as the hatch clicked a few times before sliding open, revealing the red tinted haze of the safe house's docking port. Taking only a split second to survey his surroundings, Shepard moved in, eyes staring down the barrel of his gun as he swept the area. Aria, Grunt, Garrus, Jacob and Tali followed suit, guns ready to blast anything that moved in the dimly lit room that wasn't them. They took point, surveying the scene for anything at all that could pose a threat to them.

Even though she wasn't a member of his team, Shepard noted that Aria moved surprisingly well in tandem with the others, managing to stay out of their firing lanes while simultaneously keeping them covered in hers. That stuff didn't come naturally; it was ingrained through blood, sweat, tears and rigorous training. Aria had some military experience, or at least military-level training. Just another piece of the puzzle in the mystery that was Aria T'Loak, he supposed.

The docking port was a wide open space that was capable of holding a couple dozen of people comfortably. A few crates littered the place, and Shepard half expected an enemy to pop up out of cover and open fire on them. On the far wall across from them was another door, the one that led into the safe house proper. Dust kicked up around Shepard's feet as his boots clacked against the metal floor. His eyes immediately looked down to look for other footprints in the dust. Nothing, it looks like they were the first ones here for a very long time. Well, in this room anyway.

Shepard didn't lower his guard as he approached the next door. Aria stepped up beside him and ran her omnitool over it. A holo-interface danced on the door's surface as several locks unlocked themselves in a series of heavy clicks. A moment later and the door slid apart, revealing nothing but darkness on the other side.

Aria frowned, checking her omnitool. "The generator must be down; the place is only running on minimum back-up power." She said. "That would explain the quality of the air, too."

"Then we get it fixed." Shepard replied, turning to Tali. "Can you do anything about it?"

"That depends on the state of the generator." Tali said. "Where is it located?" She asked Aria.

"Two levels down, follow me."

Shepard and the others followed closely behind Aria. Their HUDs pinged quietly as their night vision filters kicked in, revealing a plethora of furniture in a large studio type apartment. "Nice place." He commented.

"It's alright." Aria said, a hint of nostalgia to her voice. "I used to live here back when I first got into Omega…"

Garrus whistled. "You lived all the way out here?" He said, creeping along a row of shelves. "How'd you even manage to set this entire place up, anyway?"

"This place wasn't always a ghost town." She said. "I just managed to let this place remain untouched and forgotten while everything else went to hell in these parts."

"What happened?" Jacob asked.

"A Krogan named Barago Ragar staged an uprising against the current ruling faction." She said. "It was a bloody war, and hundreds of thousands died in the crossfire. Entire districts were wiped out by bombings and biological warfare, leaving them barren and uninhabitable. Just like this one."

The mention of the name Barago caught Grunt's attention. "Barago? As in _that_ clan Barago?"

"Yes. _That_ clan Barago." Aria nodded.

"Impossible." Grunt dismissed. "They were ruthless warriors, but my memories say that they were wiped out to the last man for that attack on the turian colony planet of Fariscira."

"Yeah? Well one of them got away, going into hiding on this station until he decided he wanted a slice of the pie." Aria explained. "And he's made a very nice life for himself here… up until he decided to fuck with me."

Shepard raised his brows as he put two and two together in his head. "The Patriarch."

That earned a snide chuckle from Aria. "The one and the same." She confirmed. "I took away everything that he was all years ago. Everything except for his life." Venom dripped from her words "This time though, I'm going to correctthat mistake and go all the way."

Shepard took that in as the small group moved slowly in the dark. The place was deathly silent, and only their footsteps echoing in the dark broke the quiet. Dust kicked up into the air as they went along their way, and Shepard was careful to look for any other footprints in them besides theirs.

A few moments later and they faced a door, opening up to reveal a stairwell going a level up and a level down. "There's another floor above this one?" Shepard asked Aria as he eyed the stairs going up.

"Just the trophy room and my quarters." Aria answered.

Garrus hefted his rifle and made for the stairs going up. "You head on down to the generator with the others, Shepard." He said. "I'll cover the upper floor."

"Good idea." Shepard agreed. "Keep in radio contact and keep your guard up."

"And keep your hands to yourself." Aria added, obviously displeased by the idea but understanding its necessity. "Trust me, I'll know if you go through any of my things."

"Copy that." Garrus said flatly, rolling his eyes as he ascended into the darkness above, parting from the rest. "Eyes sharp, Shepard."

"Likewise." Shepard nodded to the rest and he led the way to the stairs going down.

* * *

><p>Garrus stepped into the darkness, peeking over the edge of the stairs as he swept the area for any dangers under the green haze of the night vision. He felt a an impulse bolt up his spine as he saw a humanoid shape standing in the middle of the room, then calmed himself down when he realized it was just an asari statue.<p>

"Yeesh… I'm pretty sure Aria wouldn't have appreciated me riddling this thing full of holes." He murmured, walking around the statue.

Aria's trophy room was full of just that, trophies. Glass cabinets lined the wall holding various objects of interest such as ancient looking tablets, guns or even pieces of battle-worn armor riddled with burns, slash-marks and bullet holes.

Garrus crept through the displays, wary of anything that could be hiding in the dark. There were no windows in this place, and if there were, they must have been covered by metal shutters. The floor seemed clear of any dangers, but outside these walls, Garrus wasn't so sure. He took a deep breath, knowing full well that soon they would be traversing through the expanse of No Man's Land. He didn't like the idea, but it was their only way of getting into Omega undetected.

On the far side of the room was a large door leading to what must be Aria's bed chambers. Garrus readied his rifle and scanned its surroundings. No sign of anything wrong, he thought to himself, slowly approaching the door. Raising his omnitool, he ran his hand over the door attempting to open it, only to be repelled by a powerful lock.

"Typical." Garrus clicked his mandibles. "Well, looks like this floor is clear. No more window shopping for you."

Nothing. After a few more moments of silence, Garrus cleared his throat before speaking up again.

"You do realize you can come out now, right Kasumi?"

A few moments passed before the air beside him flickered in blue sparks, revealing the familiar form of Kasumi's sneaking suit. "Alright, what gives? I sure as hell didn't make a peep and I was careful to only step on the footsteps of others." Kasumi said, obviously annoyed by her detection. "What gave me away? Hint of perfume? Did I kick up dust without noticing it?"

"Lucky guess." Garrus said flatly, grinning beneath his helmet and watching with terrible satisfaction as the woman's shoulders drooped down.

"I've become _that_ predictable?" Kasumi asked exasperatedly.

"Well, I wouldn't say that…" Garrus began, "But it was a fifty-fifty chance. Oh, and come on, the moment Aria said 'trophy room' I could practically hear the cash register ringing in your head."

Kasumi shrugged. "Guilty." She replied mischievously. "Still, other than that statue, nothing of value out here outside of sentimentality. Of course, people pay a great deal for sentimentality. But until I get a job order, I'm not hauling around random bits of scrap." She said, approaching the door. "But behind this door, however…"

"You're not seriously considering robbing the most influential gangster on this side of the Terminus, are you?" Garrus asked. "Besides, that's a military grade lock on that thing. We'd be here all night if you tried to crack that."

"Depends…" Kasumi said playfully as she ran her hand over the door. Her omnitool flickered to life, activating the door's holo interface as various data processes occurred all at once. "And please, remember who you're talking to." A moment later and there was a loud click, and the door slid open.

"Well, damn." Garrus said as he walked through the door, rifle ready.

"Hello? Best thief in the galaxy?" Kasumi said, strutting into the opened room after him. "It's exactly what it says on the tin."

"I'll keep that in mind just in case I ever get locked out of my place." Garrus replied. The bedroom was a large chamber, dominated by an equally large, circular bed in the middle of it covered by a white sheet to keep the dust off of it. The walls were lined by paintings and shelves, holding crystals, vases and small sculptures. Aria really knew how to treat herself, he thought.

"Oh my, some of these things look like they're from the turn of the millennium…" Kasumi said as she prowled off to ogle; the girl always had a knack for art. And a lot of these things did seem pocket sized.

Garrus just shook his head as Kasumi acted like a kid in a candy shop. Surprising as it was, it didn't feel awkward to try and speak to her even after their last encounter. Now _that_ was awkward. It didn't feel like they were skirting around the topic either. Somehow, just talking to each other seemed natural enough.

Even so, they'd have to deal with _that_ when it came to it, but was that time now?

Kasumi was still busy running an inventory on Aria's collection that she barely heard Garrus clearing his throat. "What? I haven't taken anything yet, right?" She started defensively.

"We have to talk about what's happening between us." Garrus said, cutting straight to the point.

The bounce from Kasumi's step seemed to fade, but there was no awkward silence that followed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right." She conceded, folding her arms over her chest. "What in particular did you want to talk about?" Kasumi just dipped on her hip, looking awfully stiff for someone who was usually so limber. And no, it was probably not from her injuries.

Oh, Garrus thought, he was supposed to take the first few steps in this little dance? Garrus just clicked his mandibles. Well, here was that awkward silence he was looking for. His hand reflexively went to scratch his scar, finding it to be obscured by his helmet.

Taking a deep breath, Garrus took a moment to choose his words carefully. "Well, for one, I'd like to talk about everything, actually." He began, feeling as if he had just dived underwater, holding his breath in his lungs as he went deeper. "This tension between us… I'm still trying to figure out where that comes from."

Kasumi chuckled nervously. "Yeah… Feels like it kind of just happened, huh?"

"Yes… and no." Garrus replied. "I think it's always been there, we just haven't realized it was until that other night…"

* * *

><p>Kasumi bit her lip under the faceplate of her suit as her thoughts went back to that night. He was right, she thought. She and Garrus had always gotten along well enough; then again, she had always gotten along with the entire crew.<p>

What made it different with Garrus? There was obviously something there; she just couldn't see it well enough yet. And it didn't hurt that he was pretty manly. She wanted this, but at the same time, she was afraid. He was still standing there, waiting for her to reply.

This was it; this was where she had to choose.

Should she stomp out the fire or pour gasoline all over it?

Enough was enough, she decided. She wasn't some hormonally struck teenager. She was a woman that knew what she wanted. And when it came to love, she was the predator and not the prey.

Yeah, maybe she'll take this chance. Who knows? Maybe she won't come to regret it.

"Is that what you think?" Kasumi said, her confidence slowly trickling back. She paused just long enough to make it a bit uncomfortable for him, smiling underneath her mask. Yes, if they were going to do this, they were doing this her way. "I think that you and I may be on to something here."

Garrus' head perked up at that, and so did her Cheshire grin. "So what do you propose?" He asked, and she almost giggled to see him cringe at his poor choice of words.

"I _propose_…" she said teasingly, approaching him. "That we let it run its course and see what happens…"

"A wait and see method?" Garrus asked as she drew closer to him.

"Yeah. See, we're two very complicated people. So complicating our lives even more with a little dance doesn't seem very appealing." Kasumi nodded, drawing a finger over the lines of his armor. "No pressure, no games… Just us; and whatever may become of us." she whispered. "Can you live with that?"

"Yeah…" Garrus nodded. "Yeah, I can live with that."

Kasumi's eyes seemed to shine with a predatory light underneath her visor, and Garrus didn't know whether to be excited or afraid.

"Perfect." She purred.

Maybe both, he decided.

* * *

><p>Aria led the way as they descended deeper into her safe house, looking for the generator that powered the small facility. They passed a floor filled that seemed to be the garage, passing several old trucks and skycars.<p>

Jacob whistled. "Man, talk about classics." He said as he eyed the collection of vehicles. "Those things look _way_ past vintage…"

Aria sneered. "Any more comments about the age of my things will be seen as a comment at my age." She said. "You've been warned."

Jacob raised a hand to calm her down. "Easy, I'm just saying."

"You've said enough."

"Settle down you two." Shepard said, turning to Aria. "Where's the generator?"

"One more floor down, come on." She said, turning towards the last flight of stairs. "Unless your friend there has any more useful comments he'd like to make."

For his part, Jacob just shrugged and said. "Don't get your fine panties in a bunch on my account, I was just saying."

Aria just stared at him, eyes glaring daggers.

Grunt snickered while Shepard and Tali just watched in shock as one of the mellowest members of their team just said that to the face of one of the galaxy's deadliest gangsters.

The two stared each other down, with Jacob weathering Aria's fearsome gaze. Everybody's fingers gingerly tapped at the triggers of their weapons knowing full well what Aria's temper was capable of doing, ready for anything that may come to pass.

After a few moments that seemed like an eternity had passed, Aria broke off the stare, chuckling in amusement much to the surprise of the others. "As if I wear any." She said as she walked off ahead of them, going down the stairs and leaving them with their jaws dropped.

Grunt was the first to break the silence, snickering. "Hehehe, nice…" he said to himself as he hurried after Aria, leaving Shepard and Tali with a rather stunned Jacob.

Shepard picked up his jaw from the floor, shouldered his gun and walked up to Jacob, grabbing him by the collar of his armor as if to snap him out of his daze. "The hell has gotten into you, Jacob?" he demanded. "You literally just flirted with death! Do you realize the body count that woman has? The last thing we need is you goading her on!"

"Sorry, Shepard." Jacob said, grabbing his hand and prying it off his armor. "I don't know what came over me."

Tali stepped up to him with a softer tone to her voice. "Jacob, are you alright?"

"I'm fine… Really." He added, as if he could feel Tali's concerned gaze. "I've just been on edge lately."

Shepard scoffed. "No, really? And here I thought you were picking fist fights with Zaeed for shits and giggles." He said, turning to follow Aria and Grunt. He stopped after a few steps and turned back to face Jacob. "I don't know what happened to you, but I need to know that you're up for this, Jacob."

"I'm good." Jacob insisted, brushing his way past Shepard and Tali as he made his way for the stairs. "The sooner I can find something to shoot, the sooner I can work out my issues."

Shepard watched as Jacob disappeared down the stairs. "Like a fucking kindergarten…" he murmured as he followed after him, Tali walking along at his side. "Any guesses as to why our dear Mr. Taylor is acting out?"

"Women troubles." Tali said without a moment's hesitation, causing Shepard to raise an eyebrow.

"Your sources?"

"Women's intuition." She said, and Shepard could swear she was winking at him under her visor.

"So…" Shepard said, rubbing the back of his head. "Panties."

That earned him a punch to the shoulder, but both of them were laughing afterwards. They walked downstairs to find the others in front of a massive generator. Aria was kneeling in front of it as she tried to figure out what was wrong on her own. She looked up over her shoulder at Tali, her face back to that serious scowl she wore. "Took you two forever and a day…" she began, "A little help over here?"

After several minutes of work figuring out what was wrong and several failed attempts, Tali finally realigned the correct circuits and replaced the correct fuses. "There." She said as she dusted her hands off, getting up to her feet. "This should do nicely."

Aria walked over to inspect her work. "Hnh, would have never thought of that." She said. "Thanks, now we can power up the place."

"Hold on, I've got to alert Garrus before we blind him." Shepard said, linking up to Garrus' comm. "Garrus, we've fixed the generator. Turn down your night vision."

"Copy that." Garrus replied through the comm. "It is all clear up here, too; we'll see you downstairs."

"We?" Shepard asked in confusion.

"We." Kasumi's voice replied playfully over Garrus' comm.

Aria frowned. "Is that Goto?" she began. "Tell her not to bother; everything's ID tagged."

Shepard just rolled his eyes. "Alright, night vision down. Let's light this place up."

* * *

><p>Outside, the area surrounding the safe-house was a city in ruins. The other buildings were little more than skeletons, surrounded by rubble, scrap and debris. It would appear that only Aria's abode was spared the destruction. The very air shook as the powerful generator started up, breaking through the otherwise solemn silence of the place.<p>

It only lasted for a moment, but a moment was all it took to catch the interests of red eyes glowing in the dark.

"Hmmm, hear that?" A scratchy voice snarled. "Over there, in big building…" the vorcha said, pointing a twisted, clawed finger at the safehouse in the distance.

"Big Building?" Another said, scowling. "Bah, we try to get in many times! Big Building is impe-… Impene-… cannot be entered!"

"No-no! Not enter!" his companion urged. "What if something _come out_? Like shiny trinkets… or meat… or shiny trinkets _on_ meat…"

A third vorcha approached them, overhearing the conversation the pair was having. "You say something about shiny trinkets and meat?" he demanded.

"Yes-yes!" The first vorcha said. "We hear generator start up… something is inside Big Building."

The third vorcha growled. "Yes-yes… sick of eating other vorcha… want variety in diet…"

"Go tell others, quick." The first one said, narrowing his sights upon the safe house. "Tonight we feast…"


	36. Dark

Chapter 35: Dark

* * *

><p>The thing about the darkness is that to fear it is ridiculous.<p>

The darkness is harmless, impalpable.

The darkness simply _is_.

One would be forgiven to assume that the darkness is at peace, because it is only empty. This is because the darkness is pure, devoid of anything that may break its stillness; passion, conflict, sorrows, all of which do not exist in the embrace of the black void. It is only when the darkness has become impure that these afflictions arise.

It is only with these afflictions that sin becomes manifest.

And slowly, surely, the darkness would fester, and something primal came bubbling out of its purulent wounds, clawing its way to spread the contagion of its existence.

The scraping of talons.

The chattering of fangs.

The screeching of bloodlust.

The eerie glow of crimson eyes, as if filling the darkness with a sea of red stars.

No, you must not fear the darkness.

You must fear whatever lurks in it.

Because whatever lurks in the darkness is very, very hungry…

* * *

><p>Viktor Zsasz opened his eyes, marvelling at the wondrous view of the cosmos through his ship's bridge. He could feel it more and more as they got closer to Omega. It was a strange force that kept tugging at the very fibre of his being, pulling him towards an uncertain direction. Like hearing the faint echoes of a beautiful song in the distance, he was drawn to it, captivated by its melody, wanting to hear it more clearly.<p>

Even the usually reserved Silence seemed on edge as they got closer and closer to their destination. The woman was the one primarily flying the ship, and Zsasz noted that she would always take a direct route, cutting through debris and asteroid fields if only it could take them just a little bit faster to the rogue space station. A ghastly crew of husks created by Zsasz was mechanically manning the other stations, going about their duties silently as they made sure the ship was working in fine order.

He could only imagine how wonderful it must have felt for the Patriarch and Tarrana, the two being practically on top of that shining beacon that tantalized him even from this distance.

It was their God calling out to them with arms wide open, golden halo radiating around Him as His light pierced through the Sodom that was Omega. It was only fitting that the Father was reborn in that wretched hive that worshipped sin. Indeed, Omega was most blessed that something so pure would deign to even touch something so foul. His coming would cleanse the filth of that station with His purifying flames as the day of salvation came at hand.

The Father would not just save the galaxy from the Reapers; He would save the galaxy from itself.

But all of that hinged on one man.

Salvation hinged on the actions of The Messiah.

Salvation hinged on the choices of the resurrected Saren Arterius.

But Saren Arterius, for all of his words to the contrary, was still not a believer in the cause. He still resisted the sweet song of the Father, despite being His most favored son. Zsasz frowned at the thought, but it was not enough to spoil his mood. That would soon be dealt with; nobody could resist the Father's sway for long.

Right now, Saren was only along for the ride to satisfy his curiosity. He does not know that Shepard was on Omega, and that was by intention. He could not risk losing Saren should the two face each other again in combat, no matter how powerful the Messiah was over the human. Saren was just too important to let him indulge in the mortal folly of vengeance, and his purpose was far greater than what anybody could imagine. Unfortunately, the moment Saren finds out about Shepard, Zsasz would only be able to do so little to stop him short of force.

So they had to deal with Shepard before it could come to that.

Shepard was a complication. He was supposed to die taking care of the Collector threat, ensuring that two thorns had been plucked from their side in the process. But Shepard had survived, despite impossible odds, along with his entire ragtag crew of sinners and miscreants. That was proof enough of the danger he posed should he keep living.

Zsasz rubbed his chin as Silence bobbed and weaved through an asteroid field like a maniac. For the sake of salvation, long before Saren can even touch foot on Omega, Shepard had to die. They had twelve hours left before they arrived at the infamous space station, enough time for him to perish. It was a wonder that Shepard was still alive to begin with, especially since he had not one, but two of Zsasz's siblings to deal with.

There was the Patriarch, the rook of their foundation, whose strength was only exceeded by his cunning. When he had found him, broken and destitute, he was only more than willing to listen to the word of the Father, receiving His divine gift. He was the repentant sinner-turned-prophet, who cast out his darkness to let the Father's light shine through him for others. Through him, they will hear His words.

Then there was Tarrana, the wild card, whose whims and fancies changed with the cosmic wind. But make no mistake; she was ever devoted to their Father like a spoiled, needy daughter. Indeed she was spoiled, because out of all of them, even including the Messiah, Tarrana was blessed with the most beautiful of divine gifts, practically making her ever living. Zsasz was ashamed to say that he was jealous of her once. He was jealous, until he realized just how vital Tarrana was to the Father's plan. She was the constant amidst their variables. Should everything somehow fall, Tarrana would always be left standing.

Yes, having the both of them on Omega at the same time was enough to ensure their success, but Zsasz wouldn't take any chances; Not with Shepard. The man had a way with fate. Somehow, no matter the odds, he would always gravitate towards the events that would forever change the galaxy. Somehow, and more amazingly so, he was also able to stop them from happening.

To have left him to his own devices would have been the end of them, so he had to make him predictable. Leaking their plans and existence to Dr. Liara T'Soni, aka the Shadow Broker, gave Shepard a target to close in on, but it also gave them fair warning as to where he would be coming at them from.

Zsasz scratched his chin, deep in thought. It would be preferable for Shepard to die.

Omega. Who would've thought that the beginning of His glory could be found in a place named after the end? Zsasz just couldn't get over it, a dreadful grin spreading across his face. It was just so suitably poetic.

For years now, the Patriarch was tasked with finding the relic hidden in Omega. But it was only recently that they discovered how precious this relic truly was.

It was a piece of the Father.

Not a fragment, not a sliver, but a whole piece of their divine God.

That had changed everything, and the Father spoke to him through the blood coursing through his veins, detailing to him the next step of the plan that they now undertook. It seemed like fate that they found this piece right at the brink of the next Reaper harvest. Up until that point, they had worked in the shadows, gathering bits and specks from all across the galaxy, collecting it and hiding it in a cache for the next civilization after the Reapers would wipe them out, as did the Children of previous civilizations before them had done. And yes, there were those that had come before, in times long past among beings long dead. They were not as powerful as Zsasz and his siblings from this cycle, but they did their part.

It was slow and tedious, but it all worked towards the inevitable rise of the Father. But gaining an entire piece, larger than all the dust that they have amassed through the cycles, was enough to start the next phase of salvation countless millennia earlier than planned. They were the generation that was chosen to not just herald, but facilitate His coming.

After millions of years, they were about to bring their God back into this plane of existence. The Father was the only force powerful enough to stand up to the Reapers; A bastion of glory against a wave of despair.

And Shepard was the only thing standing in the way of that becoming a glorious reality. Yes, it would be preferable for Shepard to die, indeed.

The door behind him slid open, and the heavy footfalls of metal boots stepped into the bridge. Zsasz smiled, not bothering to turn as he greeted his brother. "Sleep well, hmm?"

Saren ignored the question completely as he aggressively brushed past several of the husk crewmen, knocking them aside to stand beside Zsasz, arms folded over his chest. "Is there a reason that that woman is flying around like a maniac?" He said unperturbed as the ship slid past a narrow gap between two large asteroids. "I mean, I can't help but notice we're going through an asteroid field? _Really_?"

Zsasz merely shrugged. "Who knows?" He said, waggling his brows at him. "Maybe you should go ask her yourself?" It was disturbing, Zsasz thought underneath his warm demeanor, that Saren was not feeling the force that affected both himself and Silence.

* * *

><p>Saren, for his part, merely scoffed. "I'm sure I wouldn't get an answer." He said, still feeling ill at ease in the presence of the woman. They both stood there for a while, just marveling how Silence managed not to turn the ship into a fiery wreck. He was pretty sure that not even they could survive the vacuum of space. Not for long, anyway. "This piece of our... Father." Saren said, not liking how the word rolled off his tongue. "What can it do, exactly?"<p>

"It will save us all." Zsasz replied, causing Saren to roll his eyes.

"Yes, yes, salvation and all that. You've said it before…" He said, waving it off dismissively. "But _how_ will it 'save' us, exactly?"

Zsasz stroked his beard, closing his eyes in deep thought. "Haven't a clue." He said after a long moment.

"You're serious?" Saren said, raising a single eyebrow at Zsasz's toothy grin. He shook his head, turning to look back at Silence's piloting just in time to see her successfully go through another potentially fatal situation. He was starting to wonder whether Zsasz truly was a fool or he was even better at playing the fool than he previously realized.

Maybe both.

Either way, the piece of this 'god' must be something very powerful to claim that it would save them all. If it falls into the hands of somebody like Zsasz, the results could be dire. Even if it could stop the Reapers as Zsasz loved to tout, what would the man do with it afterwards? Power like that wasn't just discarded by people who know how to use them. Saren could only scoff at his own train of thought. For all he knew, this piece of god was completely worthless and he was just wrapped up in the wild goose chase of fanatics and mad men. Still, he reasoned, the piece falling into Zsasz's hands might spell a darker future for the galaxy than what the Reapers could ever hope to accomplish with his zeal.

Power like that wouldn't be safe in anybody's hands.

But in _his_ hands however…

Saren toyed with the thought in his head. Ridiculous as it maybe, there may be some merit to tagging along with Zsasz, after all.

But idle fantasies could wait, he thought, touching his face and feeling very alien soft cheeks against his fingers. He had thought of disfiguring himself, just to keep from staring at the man every time he saw his reflection. It was appealing at first, and then he realized how… juvenile that was. This was reality. Truth be told, he wasn't even angry at Shepard. Not as angry as you would think anyway.

No, he was not angry at John Shepard at all.

Rather, it was the principle of it. A man like that had values that got in the way of a man like himself. Saren Arterius had his own agendas in the making to save this galaxy from the Reapers, and John Shepard would eventually only get in his way. He knew this because he was John Shepard, in a sense anyway. He could glean the echoes of the mind that once dominated this body; a sheer paragon of virtue, but there was more underneath that blinding white noise. It was like staring into the surface of a calm ocean, and only catching glimpses of the tumultuous currents in the depths.

Either way, he had died, but now he was back. What would he make of this second chance? He had plenty to think about. Maybe this little foray into Omega would clear his head and give him focus?

Saren had been indoctrinated; a mere puppet for the will of the Reapers. He had realized this now, and looking back, he saw how unnatural it had felt to be under their thrall. John Shepard was only the one who stopped him from being used. The man had not killed him, but rather set him free. But if he were to believe Zsasz, then their roles had been switched. Shepard was now the indoctrinated puppet, and the weight of the galaxy was now on his shoulders. Then again, it was always on Saren's shoulders.

He clenched his fists until his knuckles cracked and turned white.

Yes, if their places have been swapped, the least he could do was return the _favor_.

* * *

><p>After years of abandonment, Aria's safe house was suddenly rocked with activity as dozens of people scrambled back and forth inside the hangar and armory, kicking up the dust that had settled in through the years. The air filters had reactivated, sucking away most of the dust while rendering the air to be more breathable for them to take their helmets off. Dirty tarps were being lifted off of old vehicles while guns and thermal clips were being dug out of storage by the armful and passed around. The generator roared ominously, though muffled as it came from the floor below, lending an intense atmosphere as Shepard's small army made their preparations.<p>

It had been half an hour since the Normandy had to leave the area to satellite around Omega on Shepard's orders, so there was no turning back now.

Jacob took a deep breath as he went over the guns in front of him, lining them up on a long table. He was like a kid in a candy shop. These particular models may not be the latest and greatest in ballistic weaponry, but old and proven could stand just as well on its own. He ran each through a quick gamut of diagnostics, testing their slides, triggers, clip ejection and other mechanisms. Despite being left untouched for years, the guns were passing his standards with flying colors. Aria must have been keeping them in good maintenance before having to store them away.

He needed this right now, he thought, as he handed out the batch and received a new bunch of guns to test. The mechanical process of checking guns had become cathartic to him after all these years that it felt like he was meditating when he did it.

Still, that didn't mean that his head was clear. In his peripheral vision, he could see wavy brunette hair bouncing as Miranda walked by with several of the Shadow Broker agents, engaging them in serious conversation. The Normandy XO was probably coordinating the convoy for when they set out. He followed her with the corners of his eyes until the group disappeared behind a large APC. She didn't seem worse for wear after what had happened between them just a few hours ago. And why the hell would she, anyway? She wasn't emotionally invested into him like he was into her.

Man, it was unbelievable how much he had fucked this up. I mean just look at himself; pining for a woman who had no romantic interest in him whatsoever. Like a goddamn scrub. He had to put down the pistol he was holding so that he could grab the bridge of his nose, sighing discreetly.

"Something you need to get off your chest?"

Jacob looked up to see that Shepard was leaning on the table beside him, arms folded across his chest, a look of worry etched on his face.

"No, sir." Jacob said flatly as he got back up and got right back into checking the guns as if nothing had happened.

"Really?" Shepard persisted. "Doesn't seem like it."

"All's well and good, Shepard." Jacob replied. "Don't worry about it."

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "Bullshit, Taylor. I can read you like an open book."

"Like an open book, huh?" Jacob said, turning to him. "Have you read chapter one? It's entitled 'None of your damn business.' _Sir_." He said, adding on that last part with as much disdain as he respectfully could.

The two men stared each other down, those around them completely oblivious to the aura of intensity that the pair exuded. Finally, Shepard broke off eye-contact first, taking a deep breath before he started chuckling. Jacob was caught off guard by this, a confused look breaking past the impassive sneer on his face.

"What's so funny?"

"Sorry. Sorry." Shepard said as he tried to reel in the laughter. "It's just that I finally have some context as to why Zaeed had to resort to fighting you to get his point across."

Jacob's eyes widened at this. "Hold on, hold on…" he said. "Zaeed hasn't been saying stuff 'bout me, right?"

"Nah, but if you have to get into a fist fight, make sure that one of you has the foresight to disable the surveillance cams."

The surveillance cameras! Of course!

But then that must mean that… Jacob slapped his forehead as the realization dawned on him. "She knows." He mumbled in disbelief. Damn it, he should have remembered; he set some of those damned bugs up himself. Well, they took down the ones inside the private rooms but the rest were still active. Great, just great. Having eye witnesses there was bad enough, but word of mouth wasn't reliable, and Miri wasn't a gossip. The problem was that some of the bugs had clear _audio_. Not only was he acting like a scrub, he was acting like a scrub under Miranda's watchful eyes with context to boot. "Oh dear lord, she knows."

Shepard scrunched his brows. "Who does?" he asked.

"Miri." Jacob said despairingly before he could stop himself.

Well, score one for women's intuition, Shepard thought to himself thinking back on Tali's prediction about Jacob's plight. The look of abject horror on Jacob's face was amusing as the other man seemed unable to get over that one point. "Well? Don't stop now." He said, egging Jacob on and shaking him from his trance.

"Come on, Shepard." Jacob said. "Look, if you're worrying that this'll affect my performance in the field, I assure you that it won't."

"Just like how you handled Aria?"

He tried not to wince at the mention of what he did earlier, taunting the erstwhile despot of Omega. "Alright, I'll give you that one." Jacob conceded. "But I got it under control, don't worry."

"Well, you're right in that I'm worried about your performance in the field, but that's just one reason…" Shepard replied. "The other reason is that I'm your friend."

Jacob rolled his eyes. "You're not going to take no for an answer, huh?"

"Look Jacob, you're wound up tighter than a spring." Shepard began. "You're gonna have to let it out before you implode."

The other man sighed and Jacob leaned against the table himself.

"Alright, alright." He conceded. "Where do I even start?"

"Well, that thing about Miranda would be a good place as any." Shepard offered.

"Right… Well, you know how I and she used to be a thing?" He began. "Well, as you know, it didn't work out last time… I've been working up the nerve to talk to her, tell her that I wanted to try again." He paused, looking towards the high ceiling. "Long story short: She didn't."

"That sounds rough." Shepard said. "I'm sorry."

"Just about. And don't be." He confirmed. "Now here I am, feeling like some heartbroken little kid that just got dumped by the most popular girl in school. It's just that I thought that we had a thing together, you know? I mean, I know I felt my part of the connection…" he said, eyes shining with nostalgia, before shattering with cynic reality. "I just thought that she did too."

They were both quiet for a few moments before Shepard spoke up gently. "So how'd you two break up in the first place, anyway?"

Jacob just scratched the back of his head. "I don't know… Things were going great; at least they looked like that to me at the time." He started. "But then she slowly started to push me away. Just little hints here and there that I was too stupid or optimistic to catch up on. At first I thought she was just being career driven, but soon the sweet kisses goodnight became a dismissive wave of the hand and an impatient sendoff…" Jacob trailed off. He hadn't realized that hearing himself recount those events again could make him feel so… down. "I guess at the time… our relationship had been over long before she told me."

He paused, and the two men leaned on the table in silence.

Shepard remained quiet, and Jacob realized the other man was giving him time to handle himself. He cleared his throat, and then massaged the bridge of his nose. "So, yeah… At the time, I had just recently found myself in Cerberus colors." He couldn't resist a mirthful chuckle at the memory. "Heh, never thought I'd live to see the day…"

"If it makes you feel any better, I didn't." Shepard said, making Jacob smirk beside himself. "So anyway, go on…"

"Well, anyway… Things were okay for a while. I took a cue from Miranda and buried myself in my work." He saw the sudden glint in Shepard's eye. "Oh it was nothing shady, just some good ol' black ops justice, hunting down pirates and slavers preying on human colonies on the fringe." Jacob reassured him. "I must've done one hell of a job because the Illusive Man was impressed enough to give me a top assignment." He continued, looking at Shepard in the eye. "I was assigned to Miranda's cell, with the primary purpose of keeping both of you alive as Miranda brought you back to life. It was hard… seeing her looking so over with me while I was still in mourning. It was damn hard. But, you know how she is, ever the professional. So I got over it. After a while we became friends again."

"So what changed that?"

"Nah… Nothing changed." Jacob dismissed. "I never fell for her all over again. The truth is that I never got over her. I just thought that with time, maybe she'd realized she wasn't over me too."

"But she was."

"Yeah, yeah she was. It's been a long time…" Jacob nodded somberly. He looked down at his feet and at the floor, the weight of sheer emotion weighing him down. It's been weighing him down for a while now.

"Sounds like you've been living with this pain for quite a while…" Shepard began quietly, the two men an island of somber quiet amidst the hustle around them. "But you don't have to, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have to hold on to the pain. You just have to do something about it."

Jacob scoffed. "Right, as if it were that easy."

"How can you say that if you haven't even tried yet?" Shepard insisted.

"Oh I've tried…" he insisted.

"Doesn't seem like you've tried hard enough." Shepard dismissed.

Jacob opened his mouth to say something, but as the thought sunk in, he couldn't find any words to say. He was pissed. He felt his fists clench and his vision turn red. He was about to explode. "Where the hell do you even get off, lecturing me like this?" Jacob sneered.

"I'm trying to help you." Shepard replied calmly.

"It was a good talk, Shepard, but your help is not wanted."

"Clearly it's needed."

"Oh yeah? Just like how Torfan clearly needed your help?" he balked. "Because you sure made that situation _better_."

Without saying a word, Shepard got off the table and straightened up, prompting Jacob to do the same. The other man walked a few steps to stand in front of him, his face unreadable. He realized that a line had been crossed, but he didn't care. Fuck it, he didn't care at all.

The somber silence slowly turned into a foreboding one as Shepard said nothing. It was even more unnerving that Shepard's expression barely flinched, but something radiated from the man as he stood there in front of Jacob. Something dark and sinister seeped from the man, clawing and twisting at the very air around him, and Jacob swore he felt a chill run up his spine.

Shepard's hand moved in a snap of motion, catching Jacob unaware. But rather than the impact that he had expected, what he felt was a weight on his shoulder as the other man clasped it.

"That's enough lashing out at your friends." Shepard said firmly, looking into his eyes. "You have to do something about it."

"What?" Jacob said stunned at what just happened. He was expecting a punch, maybe even a bullet. But _this_? This was out of left field.

"You have to do something about it, Jacob." Shepard repeated, before turning around to walk away. "Fight or flight, soldier. If I learned anything after living with what I did on Torfan, a man can get drawn around by fate, but a soldier can choose how it ends."

Jacob felt a mixed surge of relief and regret course through him as the man walked off. This was turning out to be quite the day. Not only did he just survive giving Aria T'loak some smart ass cracks at her expense, but he'd just provoked the most dangerous man in the galaxy with a very touchy topic without so much as getting a split lip out of it. What he got however was one of the deepest things he's heard the man say.

Damn it, he thought, realizing just how badly he had treated Shepard. He was going to ruin friendships left and right if this kept up. So maybe it is high time to stop this train in its tracks before it crashes and burns.

"A soldier chooses how it ends, huh?" he mumbled to himself as he turned back to work on the guns. "Goddamn, I really am a scrub."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, outside Aria's safehouse, a sea of red eyes have gathered in the dark, talking and bickering amongst themselves in shrill voices and hisses. The vorcha that wandered No Man's Land were restless, gathered by the promise of meat and shiny things.<p>

A long time ago, driven away from the more _civilized_ sides of the station, these vorcha gathered together and formed savage tribes in the dark and forgotten corners of Omega. Thriving on scrap and refuse, their society flourished, hidden away from the rest of the station, making their homes in abandoned complexes or jury-rigging their own from whatever they could salvage.

Even by vorcha standards, they looked savage. Their armor was made up of cobbled up scrap fastened with wiring and held together by hasty welding and haphazardly placed bolts. It was decorated by bones and scrap, painted in clashing colors, as if the wearer had been forced to use what he could scavenge at the time. Their weapons fared no better, seeming as a random mish mash of scrap pounded and cobbled up into the general shape of a gun. To compensate, they each carried long, rusted, jagged blades that hung from their hips or their backs.

The clamor died down as a large, commanding vorcha raised its sword in the air, shrieking a terrible howl that silenced the rest. "Hnnng… What's going on? Who summoned this gathering?" He snarled, looking at the crowd around him. He grabbed a random vorcha to his right. "Answer me!" he snarled in its face.

The other vorcha could only sputter and stammer incoherently, causing the alpha to snarl in annoyance and shove the terrified fool away. "You bore me!" Before the poor vorcha could breathe a sigh of relief, however, the alpha roared and slashed him messily in half with his sword from the head down. The jagged blade ground through bone and flesh, leaving two mauled halves of vorcha falling to the ground. The alpha knelt down and slashed off an arm from the corpse, picking it up and sinking his teeth into the stinking flesh. After a few messy bites, the alpha tossed the arm away and wiped his bloody maw on his forearm. "I eat when I'm bored." He snarled, picking up both halves of the corpse by the legs and tossing it into the crowd, who tore into it with ravenous hunger. "Let's try this again…" he said, walking into the crowd. The sea of vorcha backed away as he walked into them, forming an island of space where none dared come close to the larger vorcha. "Hmm, nobody?" he said out loud. "I'm getting bored…"

"There's meat!" a similarly sinister yet smaller voice from the crowd called out, as if the owner was brave enough to speak, but not brave enough to speak on his own without hiding in the crowd. "Good meat!"

"Meat? Where?"

"Yes-yes! Not vorcha meat! Good meat!" another vorcha urged, "Generator activated in big building! Must be meat inside! And shiny things!" he added.

The alpha vorcha seemed to consider this. He couldn't see any holes in logic like that. "But if meat is inside big building…" he began, realization dawning upon him. "Then why are we still out here?"

"We can't break into big building!" said a third vorcha. "We've tried!"

Another vorcha piped up to speak his mind. "Wait, why don't we blow it up?"

The alpha was about to nod his head and agree when yet another vorcha protested.

"Only an idiot would agree to that!" it shrieked. "We might blow a hole through the wall, right into space!"

The alpha nodded, turning to the vorcha who suggested the bomb. "Yes-yes, he's right, you idiot!"

"Then how do we get in?"

"Bah!" The alpha sneered dismissively, making those around him cower. He scratched his chin. If only there was some way to get past these fortifications, he thought to himself, taking out his plasma torch and leaning on the barrel like a cane. If only he had some kind of tool that was able to slice through these metal walls like a giant can opener. Wait… Did they have giant can openers? If only he had one instead of this useless plasma tor-.

Plasma torch.

"Bring the torches!" He roared victoriously. "We cut our way through with fire!"

The other vorcha cheered around him. They were lucky to have such a smart leader commanding them, they thought as they scrambled to retrieve their plasma torches and flame throwers.

* * *

><p>Shepard had immediately walked out of the armory vehicle bay after talking to Jacob, briskly making his way to the stairwell. He took care not to make eye contact with anybody along the way, trying to maintain his composure as his head throbbed, trying to keep his anger in check.

Finally making it to the stairwell, he closed the door hurriedly behind him and walked to a dark corner underneath it, out of sight. Shepard took a couple of moments to breathe deeply, before letting loose a howl of rage and slamming his fist against the wall. Damn it, he thought, remembering Rogers' terrified face as the life bled from his eyes during that battle. He remembered dozens of expressions like Rogers', bloodied and scared no matter how hardened they were in life. His chest got tight and he found it hard to breathe as Shepard heard his heartbeat throb in his ears like war drums. He knew that what he did that day was beyond any form of atonement. He couldn't save enough galaxies to make up for those lives that were lost on Torfan.

Shepard was suddenly gripped by grief beyond anything he had felt before. What was wrong with him? He managed to ask himself that as he held a hand to the wall, supporting himself up. He was supposed to be past this phase. He had lived with himself, so why was it haunting him now as if it was so fresh. He should take some of his own damned advice, he thought. There was a distant sound, like metal grinding against metal echoing through the stairwell. It was strange… amazing.

He was wondering where it was coming from when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Spinning around in surprise, he found himself looking at Thane

"Peace, Shepard, it's just me." The drell said.

"Thane." Shepard greeted, trying to clear his head. "What do you need?"

"Aria has been looking for you." He began. "Your comm has been down for a while now, so she had asked me to go find you."

"Find me? Since when did you do Aria's bidding?" He asked, his brow arching up in amusement.

"She asked me politely." Thane said dismissively. "She is in her private chambers along with Tali, Garrus and Kasumi. We've been looking for you for almost half an hour now, I might not have found you if I didn't think to look in the shadows."

"Half an hour?" Shepard mused, was he lost in his thoughts for that long? "Also, my comm is working just- Hey…" he said, checking his omnitool, only to find out that his comm was indeed down. "When did I…?"

"Is something wrong?" Thane asked.

"No, nothing's wrong..." Shepard replied, wiping the sweat from his brow. The comm must have turned off by accident when he had punched the wall. He shook it off and calmed himself. It was just the stress, he told himself; he must've just blanked out in the corner for half an hour or something. "Thanks Thane, I'll go see what Aria wants." He said, making his way upstairs to her chambers.

The walk was quick, and before he knew it, Shepard had made it to the top of the stairwell. Going past the doors, he found himself in a rather lavish hallway lined with pieces of art and various guns and armor inside glass display cases. At its end was a large, circular chamber with a sculpture of an asari wearing a fine dress standing glamorously at its center.

Got to give it to Aria, he thought, she knew how to liven up a room with decor.

Behind the statue was an open set of doors, and Shepard could make out voices coming past them as he approached.

"_Strip_." Said Aria's firm voice, causing Shepard to raise an eyebrow in curiosity.

"What? No!" Kasumi's voice protested. "Why?!"

"I just want to make sure you don't have anything in your pockets." Aria said.

"Look at my outfit. Does it look like it even has room for pockets?"

"You're the master thief, you tell me." Aria persisted. "Besides, I want to see if that's your actual cupsize. You could be hiding things in the space."

"Hey! That's just-!" Kasumi started to say defensively, before her voice softened with realization. "That's not a bad idea, actually…"

"_Strip_."

"No!" Kasumi cried out, the sound of struggling in the background. "Garrus! Don't just stand there and stare; Do something!"

"Ah? Oh. Oh!" Garrus' voice said, as if snapping out from a trance. "I can vouch for her, Aria. I've been with her this whole time; she did not take anything of yours."

Aria scoffed. "Like I'd trust the word of Archangel. Now hold still, Goto!"

"Come on, Aria!" Garrus pleaded.

"Don't you dare touch me, Vakarian!" Aria sneered.

"Garrus! Get her off of me!"

"Working on it!"

"I swear to god, Aria!" Kasumi cried.

"God? Hah!" Aria laughed. "In this station, I AM GOD!"

Shepard finally caught sight of them as he rounded the statue and saw what the commotion was about. Aria was grappling with Kasumi, pushing and pressing the other woman against the wall while trying to strip her of her suit, hands grabbing everywhere. The sight could be interpreted in many ways; No wonder Garrus was just standing there and staring, wondering how he could pry them apart.

Shepard cleared his throat, causing all eyes to fall on him. "You called?" he said, addressing Aria.

Aria took a deep breath, turning back to Kasumi to scowl at her before releasing the other woman from her grip. "Shepard. I've _been_ calling for you."

Kasumi slumped down to the floor, rubbing her back. "Yeah, thanks for taking your sweet time, Shep." She said sarcastically. Garrus knelt down next to her and offered her a hand up. She took it, rolling her eyes as he pulled her up. "And you. _Thanks_."

"Well, it seemed like you had everything under control, so…" Garrus shrugged.

"Go calibrate yourself, Vakarian." Kasumi said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Shepard just shook his head with an amused smile, turning to Aria. "Glad to see you're getting along with the team, Aria." He said, earning him a weary look from her as she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not here to make lasting friendships, Shepard." She replied.

"Seriously though, I can vouch for Kasumi." He said. "Thief or no thief, she knows better than what you're blaming her with. I'd rather you didn't get physical with any of my crew in the future." He said politely, the threatening undertone all but left unsaid.

"Just get me what I need and we won't be having any _major_ disagreements. Now come, I have something for you." She says, beckoning him to follow her.

Shepard made a quick glance to check up on Garrus and Kasumi before turning to follow Aria. The pair seemed to be engaged in a rather spirited discussion bordering on a full blown argument. It reminded him strangely of Ken and Gabby, he thought, as Garrus scratched his scar and Kasumi flicked on of his mandibles. Catching up with Aria, the asari gangster led him to a large, walk in closet, which upon opening, revealed a variety of skimpy dresses and skimpier lingerie. Shepard paused for a moment as he and Aria just stared expectantly at the open closet. "Um…" He began rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought you didn't wear panties?"

Aria did not reply, and instead just gave him a sideways leer.

"Or I could never bring that up ever again." Shepard replied quickly.

"Good boy." She said with a self-satisfied smirk. A few seconds later and Aria's intent became apparent when the back of the closet shifted and moved, revealing a secret room. It was another armory, though far smaller than the one downstairs. "Come on in." Aria said as she walked into the room.

Inside, the walls were lined with guns of all shapes and sizes hanging on racks and lying on tables. What caught Shepard's eye however was not what was in the room, but who.

Tali hummed along to a tune in her head as she had her back to them, working on something on the table in front of her. Aria cleared her throat suddenly while Tali was in mid tune, almost dancing to her own beat, causing Tali to fumble with a tool in her hand. "Oh, Shepard! Aria! I didn't hear you two come in." She flustered, clearing her throat and rubbing her hands, face surely darkening into a red hue after being caught. "Ah, yes, I've almost finished upgrading the armor with durasteel alloy and ceramic plating." She added, trying to divert attention from her. "I've also updated the software into current standards and I even recalibrated the joints and pressure sensors to maximize agility. Well… Garrus did that last bit, he insisted."

Aria answered Shepard's question before he could ask it. "Yes, it's _your_ armor." She said. "If you're going to help me, then I need you at your very best. So that means giving you the best armor in my personal collection."

"I'm honored." Shepard said, walking towards Tali to inspect the armor.

"It also happens to be the only armor in my vintage collection compatible with your human physiology." Aria added. "Funny how fate drives us."

"What do you mean?" Shepard asked. He noticed that Tali was deliberately blocking the armor from his view, as if hesitant to even show it to him. "Is something the matter?" he asked, his brow furrowing with confusion.

"Shepard… John…" Tali said, rubbing her hands nervously. "About this armor…"

"Tali, you're worrying me." He said gently, putting her hands on her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Tali looked into his eyes and caressed his face, before sighing and stepping aside, revealing the armor to him.

What greeted him on the table was a set of heavy armor, colored matte black with golden trim. The edges of the armor ended in sharp angles, while the gold trim bled onto the matte black surfaces like swirling liquid metal, depicting strange patterns and symbols. On the center of the raised collar was a fanged skull. It was ornate, to say the least. So ornate, that he almost didn't notice that the fanged skull had four eye sockets.

It was batarian armor.

Well, that explained why they were being so nervously cryptic about it.

"It used to belong to a big-time slaver boss back in the day, before I took Omega as my own." Aria began as Shepard just stood there, looking at the armor. "Fought just like you too, Shepard; waded into battle with no regard for his safety. All that mattered was getting the job done." She chuckled at a distant memory. "He was untouchable wearing that thing… So I had to _convince_ him into taking it off first." She said with sinister nostalgia. "For your woman's sake, as well as your own, I hope you don't go down the same way."

Shepard didn't reply as he ran a hand over the restored and upgraded armor. A slaver's armor. He wondered how much innocent blood was splattered across its pretty, black and gold surface before the previous owner was taken down. No matter how much it actually was, it was too damn much. This thing had a dark past that was blacker than it was, trying to hide behind its pristine exterior. Not unlike himself, he realized. Something welled up in his heart. Something he was deeply ashamed about.

The great Commander Shepard, Galactic paragon of truth, justice and virtue, was seething with deep, primal hate. There was that noise again, he realized, of metal grinding against metal in the distance.

It flowed well with the hate, and he was losing himself to it until-

"John?"

Next to him, Tali looked beside herself in worry, rubbing her hands nervously together as Shepard inspected the armor. He realized this and glanced at her, giving her a reassuring smile that visibly eased the tension building up in her. "Good job, Tali." He said, watching her eyes light up behind her visor. The hate in him had dissipated, and the darkness had receded for now. Everything was fine, so long as she was by his side. "Don't worry about it." He added, giving her a small wink, to which Tali nodded. Turning to Aria, he nodded his head. "Thanks." He said simply.

"Save it." Aria dismissed. "Thank me by taking my damned station back." She said. "Also, if you save the galaxy again along the way, that would be a nice bonus."

Shepard smirked. "Deal."

"Then you should get dressed." Aria said as she turned to leave him and Tali alone.

As the doors closed behind Aria, Shepard heard Tali sigh in relief. "Well, that was far more intense than it should have been." She said, causing Shepard to chuckle.

"Seems that way." He replied, earning a small chuckle from her in return.

"But you _are_ okay, right?"

Shepard smiled. He wasn't sure about that one. "I'm fine, Tali." He said out loud. "I mean, it's just armor, right?" No, no it wasn't just armor. It was a slaver's tool of oppression.

"Well then…" she said, a hint of naughtiness creeping into her voice as she looked over the light armor he was currently wearing. "Strip."

A few minutes later and Shepard was slowly being encased in the gold and black armor that formerly belonged to some two-bit slaver. Tali's fingers worked quickly as she latched on each and every separate piece together, tightening straps and locking clasps. Each piece attached with a vacuum tight seal to the next one, and he could not deny that the weight of the thing felt good across his shoulders.

Finally, all that was left was the helmet. It was designed along the same lines as the rest of the armor, all intricate and lined with gold. The helm's mouth plate was molded into a fearsome depiction of fanged jaws, clenched tight in a rictus bite, while the eye visors shined a bright blue, even when deactivated. Shepard realized that along with the rest of the armor, the gold patterns on the large canvas of matte black depicted a cruel, skeletal silhouette. It was clearly designed to intimidate and break the wills of even the strongest individuals through fear.

Tali took the helmet in both hands and slipped it over Shepard's head, locking it in place with a pressurized hiss. For a little while Shepard was encased in darkness, until the armor's systems booted up, lighting up its HUD and synchronized with his omnitool.

"How does it feel?" Tali asked.

"It'll do." Shepard said as he checked his gauntlets, twirling his wrists to see if it fit just right. It did. Everything did. He hasn't worn a more comfortable set of armor in his life before. He hated it. He noticed Tali had kind of flinched when he replied. "What?"

"Nothing, it's alright. It's just that… The helmet seems to be distorting your voice into something… deep and quite frankly terrifying."

Shepard frowned. "This thing was made to intimidate." He said. "Would it help if I said something silly?"

"No thanks." Tali said, snickering as she got over her initial jump. "There must be a toggle for that."

"Hold on…" Shepard said as he played with the controls. "There." He said in his normal voice. "Better?"

"Much." Tali replied. "Alright, I'll run you through some of the armor's features."

"Features?"

"See the interface on the lower-left side of your HUD?" She asked, and Shepard nodded. "That monitors your adrenaline levels. The armor can prolong your adrenaline rush by constant stimulation of your stress receptors." She said. "I don't quite understand how it does, either, but try not to use it too often, you will burn yourself out too quickly if you do."

"Keep my cool, got it." Shepard replied. "Anything else?"

"This other one I'm sure you'll find helpful." Tali said with amusement. "Go to your HUD control interface and select the CQC protocol."

Shepard did so, and with the sound of polished metal gliding over metal, razor sharp serrated blades erupted from his shoulders and gauntlets, making the armor look more demonic than it already was.

"It's called blade armor." Tali said as Shepard inspected the things. "I know you're prone to getting into the thick of it, so this should help you immensely."

Shepard had to admit, this armor was trying very hard so that he wouldn't hate it completely. "This will definitely help." He said. "Does this thing have any more nasty surprises?"

"Well, I already took out the kill-switch detonator, but the bomb was too tricky to remove so try not to get bumped around too much." She said playfully.

"You're an evil woman." Shepard said, not the least bit amused by Tali's joke as his girlfriend snickered. He hoped she was joking.

"Oh hush, you like it."

"I do." He replied.

The moment was cut short when Kasumi burst through the door in panic. "We got to go." She said.

"What's wrong?" Shepard asked as he picked up his guns; attaching them to his armor, save for the assault rifle which he unfolded into active mode in his hands. Tali did the same, cocking her shotgun in hers.

"Something is trying to break in." Kasumi explained. "A lot of somethings. Now come on!" she urged, hurrying back out.

Shepard nodded to Tali and both of them carried as much guns as they could before hurrying out to follow Kasumi. They found her along with Garrus and Aria in the hallway going into Aria's bed chamber, where over a dozen plasma torches were cutting through the walls with their blue flames, filling the air with a heady ozone smell.

Aria was gritting her teeth as she looked all around her. "No." she said in annoyance as a torch flame cut through one of the trophy racks that were against the wall, incinerating its contents. "No, no, no…" She hefted her SMG and clenched her fist. "It seems like everything in this galaxy is bent on pissing me the hell off as of late." She hissed.

Shepard activated his comm and placed it into the common frequency. "All units, the safe house has been compromised! I repeat, the safe house has been compromised!" he said out loud. "Load up and prepare to move out!" He turned off the comm and raised his rifle, all five of them going back-to-back as the blue-hot plasma cut through the walls. "Any clue who we're dealing with here?" He asked as more of the torch flames appeared through the wall, too many to count.

Garrus clicked his mandibles, aiming down the sights of his assault rifle at one of the gaps that a torch had made. It wasn't wide enough yet to see out of, but he could hear what was on the other side. "Vorcha. And it sounds like there's lot of them." He said grimly. "At this rate, they'll be all over us in minutes."

Kasumi tilted her head. "Then why the hell aren't we running?"

Garrus nodded. "Fair point."

Aria stamped her foot. "Damn it!" she sneered. "No, I won't let them bring this place down…" she declared.

Shepard grabbed her by the shoulder. "Aria, there's not much we can do about it. We have to go. Now."

"You misunderstand me, Shepard." She said, brushing his hand off of her shoulder. "They won't bring this place down." She walked to the statue and moved the plaque on the base, revealing a small interface. "If anybody is bringing this place down…" She smashed her metal fist against it, causing it to spark as a holo screen appeared in front of the statue's chest, depicting a countdown. "I will."

Tali cleared her throat, bringing all eyes on her. "Can we go now?"

They all looked at each other, before bolting their way to the stairwell as the torch flames cut into the walls. As they passed floor after floor on the way to the garage bay, Shepard could see more blue flames sprouting everywhere on each floor.

Some of the gaps were getting larger now, and they could hear a cacophony of shrieks and hisses, punctuated by a single word that the vorcha chanted like a mantra.

"Meat! Meat! Meat!"

"That can't be good." Garrus quipped.

Kasumi scoffed. "Really? Because I'm still on the fence about it." She said sarcastically.

Tali sighed as they rounded a corner down another flight of stairs. "Carnivorous, blood thirsty vorcha." She said dryly. "Wonderful. I'm having the time of my life."

Aria sneered. "I know I am." They bolted out of the stairwell and into the vehicle bay, where the others had already packed up the APCs and other vehicles, all of which were ground based. "Damn it, I knew I should've gotten that gunship centuries ago…" she murmured as they ran towards the others.

"Hindsight is always 20/20." Shepard replied. He looked around and saw that there weren't any blue tongues of fire cutting into the garage bay from the outside. This level must be situated in a sector beneath the upper levels, he thought as they all jumped into the closest APC, sealing the hatch behind them. He sat beside the driver, a Shadow Broker agent and worked the interface in front of him. "Alright, rev up those engines and open the gates, we're on the clock here!"

"Sir, something's wrong!" The agent said. "The gates won't open!"

"They won't _what_?" Shepard stammered.

Tali stuck her head in the cabin. "Point me in the right direction, I'll get it open."

Kasumi also appeared out of nowhere. Literally. "And don't forget, if you need something opened, you also got the best thief in the galaxy right here."

The agent shook his head. "It's not a technical difficulty, ma'am. Looks like something is blocking it from the outside!"

Shepard shook his head. "Aria, when was the last time you actually opened these gates?"

Aria rubbed the bridge of her nose and groaned. "A couple of centuries ago, maybe?" she said. "That's not important."

"Can you at least deactivate that bomb you set?"

"No, and I don't have to." She replied. "Its yield is only strong enough to take out the first two levels without harming this level or breaching into space. I have a seperate set of bombs for this and the rest of the lower levels."

Garrus mused at this. "The blast could take out those vorcha while we figure out a way to open these gates." He said. "How long 'til it-?" His question was cut short by a loud bang that sent them rocking inside of the APC. "Never mind." He groaned as he picked himself up off the floor.

Outside, Shepard could see that aside from clouds of dust raining from the ceiling, their level was still intact. Shepard rubbed his head. "Is everybody still in one piece?"

Tali patted herself down. "My suit isn't compromised; I'm fine." To her left, Kasumi was helping Aria up, only for the other woman to brush her off.

"I'm fine." Aria said heatedly.

"So long as you are." Kasumi replied, rolling her eyes.

Garrus just shook his head as he subtly got between the two women. "Well, that was quite the controlled blast." He said. "Did it take them out at least?" The answer came in a cacophony of screeches and howls coming from the stairwell. "Hnng. Thought that would be too easy."

Shepard unbuckled his seatbelt. "It's never easy." He said, getting up and hefting his assault rifle. "All units, this is Commander Shepard. Right now, the safe house is being invaded by vorcha and we're trapped here until we can clear the debris on the other side of the gate. Set up the APCs in defensive positions and I want troops to take up firing positions. They'll have to funnel their way into the garage bay through the stairwell to get to us. Lock and load, people!" He said, before changing frequencies to the private one that he only shared with his squad mates. "Legion, Thane, meet me up in my position, I have a job for you two and Kasumi."

"Complying, Shepard-Commander." Legion said.

"I will be there shortly." Thane replied.

"Alright, over and out." Shepard nodded, turning to Tali. "Tali, I need you on the turret."

"Roger that, Shepard." Tali said before turning towards the ladder at the rear of the APC's interior that led to the turret.

"The rest of you, let's get outside and kick some vorcha ass."


	37. Tooth and Nail Part 1

A/N: still alive.

Chapter 36: Tooth and Nail Part 1

* * *

><p>All Captain Gavorn wanted was a nice, cold and very, very long shower. One that could wash away all the blood, dirt and spirits-know-what-else that was smeared all over him, huddled up with his men behind a barricade on the filthy streets of the Gozer district.<p>

It was a tight squeeze, sharing the cover with four other men, equally smeared with the grime of battle, but comfort was the last thing on one's mind when trying to stay alive. The Blue Suns were restless today, pushing them back violently, street after blood stained street, driving them deeper into the station. Bullets flew overhead and ricocheted off of his cover as he hastily reloaded his assault rifle with bloody, shaking hands. "Say that again, Szizlak?!" he barked over the din of gunfire to one of his men who was kneeling beside him, delivering a sitrep. "I can't hear you over the sound of me trying not to get fucked up here!"

"Points A, C and D have been overran, Cap! Casualties are still piling up!" The batarian repeated, one of his four eyes a freshly bleeding gash. "And we won't be far behind if we don't get out of here!"

"Damn it!" Gavorn swore. "We can't just pack up and fold here! We lose this point then the entire district goes down!" He roared back. "What the hell is Derrudo doing?!" He demanded.

"Derrudo's dead sir!" Szizlak sneered. "Him and half his gang! We have to go now!"

"Great…" Gavorn griped. Derrudo was the one leading the resistance on the other side of the district. With him dead, it explained how they were losing ground faster than they could count their dead. It was a grim picture indeed. He had started out with 70-odd men with him in total to hold this point, packed with enough heavy weapons to weather hundreds of troops and even a couple of tanks that they had liberated from the Suns. It was supposed to have been more than ample to hold this point, and with similar numbers holding other points in the district, it should have been more than secure. Unfortunately these were gangsters, not the highly trained, disciplined soldiers of the Turian Fleet. Tough guys, no doubt, but used to bullying the weak and taking what they want with sheer intimidation. Faced with a threat that could bite back however? It was all sunshine and rainbows at first, but when the shit hit the fan, it really fucking hit the fan. Now all he had left to lead was just a couple dozen able bodied troops with twice that much wounded and even more dead than both combined.

"Gavorn, it's over! We've lost this district!" Szizlak urged. "We have got to go, right fucking now!"

"This district is a hub between several others! If we lose this joint then the Blue Suns will overrun us!" Gavorn persisted as he opened fire at the incoming Suns. "Who do we got on the reserves?! If we can reinforce this point and retake that warehouse a couple of blocks down the street, we can lockdown this area!"

"There's nobody on the reserves you stubborn bastard!" Szizlak said, both of them ducking low as heavy fire pelted at their cover, sending debris into the air. "Nobody able to fight, anyway!"

"Damn it, Szizlak! They take this place and the other districts will go down like dominoes!" As he said that, the man next to them slumped backwards dead after a bullet planted itself between his eyes. "Could you shut your yap for three seconds and help me shoot some Suns?!" Gavorn barked, rising from cover and unloading on a quickly approaching wave of Blue Suns. "We're being overrun here!"

"I get it! I get it! We lose this place then we get at a severe disadvantage. But if we stay we will die you stubborn bastard!" Szizlak announced as the batarian grabbed a light machine gun from a dead gangster, propping it over their barricade and opening fire.

"Less talking more shooting!" Taking a cue from their leader, the defensive line mowed down nearly a third of the advancing Suns and forcing the rest to duck behind cover, stalling the advance for now. Before he could bark out other orders, Gavorn saw several black metal spheres lobbed into the air and hurtling towards them. "Biotics!" he roared.

Not a second later, the grenades halted in mid-air at the top of their arc, plucked by a sprawling field of blue energy radiating from several biotics. With the gre nades detonating harmlessly in the air, Gavorn decided to return the favor by plucking a large grenade from his bandolier and pulled the pin out with his fangs. "Cluster out!" he announced, causing his men to duck as one.

The ensuing explosion blossomed into several smaller ones, ripping into everything in its blast radius and punching a hole through the advancing column of Blue Suns, halting the advance for mere moments.

However, mere moments were all it took for Gavorn to look to his men on the far end of their defenses and gave them quick series of hand signals. One of the men nodded back as the squadron moved forward, intent on taking advantage of the opening.

If they could just make it on top of that pedestrian overpass a few yards down the path, they could outflank the mercs and mow them down in the crossfire.

But just as the opening was made, more mercs seemed to pour out of nowhere to refill the gap. They made quick work of his rushing men, and those who didn't succumb to the torrent of bullets were helplessly pinned down behind cover.

"Do you see now?!" The batarian said, spittle flying from his maw. "Aria's probably left us to die here! Bitch must be halfway to the other side of the galaxy by now! None of this is worth dying for, Gavorn!"

Gavorn cursed as he salvaged what he could from the dead man, slipping thermal clips into his bandolier and unceremoniously grabbing the assault rifle from his still tight grip, tossing the weapon over to another one of his men to use. "Spirits have mercy on you…" He muttered as he closed the corpse's still open eyes with his hands.

"Hey Gavorn! I'm talking to yo-!"

Gavorn turned away from the corpse towards Szizlak, his face contorted into a menacing scowl, mandibles flashing fangs. "Bite your damn tongue, Szizlak, or I might just cut it out myself!" he snarled. "The boss maybe a lot of things but a coward isn't one of them! If she ain't here, there's probably a very damn good reason for it!"

"Are you kidding me?" Szizlak protested. "She's probably dead!"

"If she were dead, the Suns would have been quick to spread that fact! Since they aren't, that means to say that she's most likely still alive!" Gavorn growled coldly. "And in case you've forgotten, if it weren't for the boss, you'd still be hustling homeless degenerates for some pocket change in the slums!" He said, jabbing a finger into the batarian's chest armor. "So show some damned respect!"

Szizlak was flustered, but gained his footing once more. "Be that as it may, I don't intend to die here! And I'm sure as hell none of these other guys do, either!" The batarian wiped his sweaty face with his palm, apparently grappling with what little patience he had left. "They'll take this district whether we fight to the last man or not! But if we die here then it's all over, Gavorn! _We're. Fucking. Done. Here._"

Gavorn took a quick look around his entrenched defenses and saw every eye glancing at him, if ony for a few seconds at a time between shots. Seems like Szizlak was right. Hell, he was right all along, but Gavorn was just too fired up to see it. Troop morale had been smashed into tiny little pieces and he could do nothing to put it back together again. If he insisted they stayed any more than he already has, they'd probably mutiny. He clicked his mandibles as he reloaded a fresh clip. No, there wasn't much of anything he could do now.

Spirits have mercy on this district, because he doubt that the Blue Suns will.

"Alright… Alright already! Fuck! Sound the retreat!" Gavorn conceded, and he swore he could hear a collective sigh of relief over the din of gunfire. This wasn't supposed to happen. They should have been able to hold this place. But Szizlak was right; If they stayed, they would all die. "Spread the word to all other surviving points! We'll make a fighting retreat for the maintenance shafts and regroup in the Ferreng District!"

The batarian smirked with relief. "About damn time that you saw reason! Now let's get out of here!" Suddenly, Szizlak's head exploded in a spray of red, splattering Gavorn with bits of batarian brain tissue. A half second later, another one of his men's chest erupted with plumes of blood as gun fire peppered him full of holes, and another, and another.

"They're outflanking us!" Gavorn yelled as he saw a squadron of Blue Suns centurions come up their 9 o'clock, unimpeded and raining death on them. He grabbed Szizlak's limp body and hauled it in front of him as a shield just at the nick of time as bullets that were meant to have killed him riddled the corpse instead. He ignored the bite of a couple of rounds that nailed him in the shoulder and the warm blood that spilled from the stump of the batarian's neck and splattered onto his chest. His free hand raised his assault rifle and returned fire on the squadron of Blue Suns that had jumped them. "Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" He chanted as pure survival instinct took over.

The Suns took cover as bullets blazed past them, clearly not expecting anybody to survive their initial strike. But not before Gavorn tagged a couple of them, wounding one in the neck while killing the other one outright. The sound of the wounded one choking on his own blood got Gavorn blood thirsty. He wasn't going to die here, not today.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion as Gavorn unloaded with his rifle in suppressing fire, encouraging the Suns to keep hidden behind cover. Such was his adrenaline high that he barely even noticed the bullet that tore right through his left knee, adding his own blood to the growing scarlet pool that he was now lying on top of. It seemed like forever before the rest of his men turned their lines of sight on the exposed flank, regrouping behind cover that protected them on both fronts now. A sense of relief washed over him as he felt a hand grab the collar of his armor, pulling him out from underneath Szizlak's corpse and towards safety. Poor Szizlak, he managed to think to himself. The bastard deserved better.

That same sense of relief was quickly washed away with terror as he saw a small, black sphere fly out from behind the Suns' cover and towards his men. It looks like he might just catch up to Szizlak just yet.

"Grenade!" Someone yelled out as the thing bounced several meters to his right. The one pulling Gavorn away tried to hustle them both to safety but it was no use.

There was a flash and Gavorn was weightless as the whole station seemed to be tumbling about around him. His ears rung as his mind went numb; he knew his body was still here in the battle, but at the same time he felt like he was a million miles away. He tried to will his legs to get him up, his arms to grip his gun, but it felt like trying to move your body in a dream. Or in this case a nightmare.

He could only watch helplessly as the Suns started to close in on them and more of his men were slaughtered.

His head was still spinning when he found himself in a crumpled heap of pain, bloodied and battered. He tried to move, and his body sung in agony from the effort. At least he was faring better than his rescuer however, who took the brunt of the explosion. For now, anyway. He couldn't even recognize the mangled corpse anymore to know who he owed his life to.

His ears were still ringing as a blue armored centurion approached him, gun raised and an amused smile on his face. The centurion's lips were moving, but trash talk was wasted on the temporarily deaf. Arrogant bastard, Gavorn thought as his arm tried to feebly raise his gun. The centurion had ample time to kill him a dozen times by now, but the merc just slowly approached him, drawing out the inevitable. Gavorn gulped down a curse; They both knew how this would end.

So it was little wonder that both of them were quite surprised when a wave of blue energy rushed past Gavorn and flew directly into the centurion's chest, lifting him off of his feet and suspending the flabbergasted man in mid-air. The man convulsed as the energy sparked around him, just before he was ripped apart in a cloud of biotic flame.

Gavorn looked over his shoulder to see a hooded woman, clad in black standing behind him, one arm clutching an SMG while the other glowed with biotic power. "You…?" He managed to say weakly as another pair of hands grabbed him and started to drag him off to safety once more. "What are you doing here?"

Nyreen Kandros gave him a brief smile before directing her attention fully back on the battlefield. "Saving your sorry hide, apparently." She said as she opened fire on their pursuers, retreating alongside him. "What? You think I was going to be gone forever?" The turian female added as she lobbed a ball of energy towards the Blue Suns, flowering into a bright blue explosion that sent mercs flying everywhere. "All units: secure who you can and fall back into the tunnels!" she commanded over her comm.

It was then that Gavorn noticed that she was not alone. Over a dozen similarly black-clad soldiers were dispersed among his men, bolstering positions as they gave them enough time to retreat. The soldier that was pulling him away to safety was also dressed as such. "At the risk of sounding ungrateful, you could have brought more guys!"

"This is a rescue, not reinforcements!" Nyreen chided him as a biotic barrier shimmered into life around them, just in time to deflect a barrage of gunfire. "Can you walk?"

"I can't even lift my gun!" He called out to her. "How do we get out of here? They're right on top of us!" The feeling still wasn't back to his limbs, and he could only watch helplessly as things continued to go bad.

"And whose fault is that?" She replied, not sparing him any sting. "We can lose them in the tunnels! That place is a hedge maze!"

"Well I don't have any better ideas, so why the hell not?" Gavorn replied. "Where've you been, Nyreen?"

"Enough with the questions, Gavorn! Time for that later!" She admonished him, reloading her gun with a fresh clip.

Gavorn just hoped there was a later. Yep. That long, cold shower was looking even more inviting with each passing second.

* * *

><p>A few moments ago, outside of Aria's safe house…<p>

The Alpha vorcha shielded his eyes and hissed from his perch atop a ruined structure as the top of the big building bloomed into a red orange flower of fire and concussive force, obliterating the vorcha close enough to it's radius while sending those a bit further off flying like ragdolls into the horde that crowded around the big building, along with rubble and debris that crushed those unfortunate enough to be standing where they landed.

"I told you we should have just blasted our way in!" A vorcha hissed as he got up, prompting the Alpha to swat him aside with a backhand, sending the lesser vorcha's lower jaw flying..

"Silence!" he roared, and for a moment, that was all there was, before the grumblings started anew. The Alpha looked around as the dust cleared at the aftermath of the explosion. The big building was now nothing more than a skeletal framework of flaming ruins, making it blend with the rest of the scenery of No Man's Land. Huge piles of fiery twisted metal and debris stood like islands in a sea of vorcha, who were gathering themselves up from the blast. It would seem that the prospect of good meat had gathered a good number of them. There were a couple thousand vorcha here at least, maybe even more. Truth be told, the blast did little to damage their overall numbers. Like kindling an already burning fire however, the explosion only rallied them into a berserk frenzy. All around him, he could hear the shrill chatter of disgruntled vorcha.

"Ugh, my face feels crispy…"

"Forget your face! What about the meat?!"

"Yes-yes! The meat!"

"Meat went boom!"

"WHAT!?"

"Meat! No! This is your fault!"

"My fault?! How do we know it isn't your fault!?"

"Maybe it's both your faults!"

"I won't leave here until I get meat!"

The bickering started to spread like wildfire. Fangs were bared and trigger fingers were itchy. The Alpha hissed in annoyance; he needed to take control before the in-fighting ensued. His eye caught a vorcha wearing a large, ungainly, jangling back pack with antennae poking out of the top of it. "Hey, you!" He called out. "C'mere! Your comm working?"

The comm vorcha hurriedly made it to his side, turning around to present the ad-hoc comm interface on its back to the Alpha. "Here you go, boss. It's already linked up." He said.

The Alpha grunted his appreciation and ran his hand over the static-laced holo-interface. These communicators were scavenged from the ruined vehicles across the sector, and though they were literally falling apart at the seams, were invaluable in maintaining good communication amongst the vorcha. And by good communication, what that really meant was that it made it easier for alphas to bark out their orders to the rest of the horde and at the same time reminding everybody of their dominance. With a push of a button, the Alpha's voice would now be transmitted to the packs of other comm vorcha's interspersed amongst the thousands of vorcha gathered here. "Listen up, you runts!" He growled, his voice resonating across the horde. "Forget the meat! We have plenty of that from our dead!"

A resounding groan echoed through the horde, with hints of more inflammatory remarks muttered beneath it. Everybody was looking forward to at least a mouthful of something different for a change.

Contrary to how it looked, a vorcha didn't become an alpha due to sheer brutality. Strength was nothing if one didn't have the necessary cunning to take control of such a horde. This was probably for the best; the Alpha knew that there probably wasn't going to be enough meat to go around for a couple of thousands of vorcha, and vorcha don't share very well. Being able to understand a concept like that without it having to be explained to him was one of the reasons why he was the Alpha. "But there might be something else worthwhile that was in that big building!" He said, not unlike a stern father appeasing a spoiled child. "All of you start picking through it for salvage! Those that bring me the shiniest bits will get a reward!" What was that reward going to be? He hadn't a clue, but he figured the opportunity to keep living would be a very good one. "And anyone else who thinks differently might just end up on the menu, too."

Regardless, a cheer started to rise from different patches in the mass of vorcha. Before long, the entire horde was rumbling with cheers and roars, waving their weapons in the air. The in-fighting abated, the vorcha started to make their way towards the ruined building, still flooded with plumes of dust and smoke.

The Alpha scowled, but he shook off the disappointment. He might not have good meat, but the scrap here could empower his horde and give him some shiny bits at the very least. It would only be a matter of time before he would not just be an alpha, but become _The Alpha_. He had already put dozens of other tribes to heel, their respective alpha's heads stuck on pikes in his lair, locked in the grimace of rigor mortis. He walked up to a huge chunk of debris and hopped on top of it, giving him a good view of his ever growing horde. Yes, he thought as a vicious grin split his face; it would only be a matter of time before his grip extended past these dead ruins and into fresher pastures.

The vorcha swarmed over the ruin like ants, pushing over fallen beams, digging through debris and crowding around still sparking consoles and other viable pieces of scrap. What they thought was the lowest floor of the building was somehow spared the brunt of the explosion, its surfaces not blackened by the heat of the flames that blossomed not too long ago.

A particular group of vorcha was busy trying to move a huge cross of metal beams, intent on finding out what was behind it. With a mighty heave, the beams relented, only to end up crushing half of the movers into pulp underneath its weight as it fell over them.

"Oops." One of the surviving vorcha said. At the very least, they could pick through the meat of the dead. As it was thinking this, a peculiar stench wafted through its nostrils. "Eh?" It was a sweet smell that made his mouth water.

They all turned to see that there was an opening hidden behind the beams that they had just cleared. It was a staircase, shaken by the blast but otherwise still in one piece. And they could smell something coming from beneath.

One of the vorcha took a deep sniff, a cruel smile twisting its way to its face as he drew his gun. "Do you smell what I smell?" he asked his companions.

The others were already brandishing their weapons dangerously, a nervous excitement creeping up on all of them. "Yes-yes! Smells like M-!"

"Shhh!" Another one said, hushing up his companion. "Quiet! We take a look for ourselves first! Would be a shame if we didn't get our rightful cut as the finders…"

"I like that idea…" hissed the first vorcha. "Yes-yes, finders' keepers…"

They all shared a greedy smile, and after making sure nobody else had noticed their little plan, they made their way through the opening, descending into the stair case. Their mouths watered and their stomachs growled, excited at the prospect of fresh meat.

They descended the stairs in frenzy; practically pushing past each other in their eagerness to reach the source of the sweet smell before the others could. The small pack of vorcha rounded the corner and followed the trail towards the next floor.

"MEAT!" one of them shrieked as they exited the stairwell into the source of the smell, spilling into the garage bay, just a split second before they were shredded to bits by a storm of gunfire.

Up above, countless heads shifted towards the direction of the gunfire as the Alpha hefted his sword on his shoulders, throwing his head back in a mad cackle. That was gunfire, and when there was gunfire, there was fighting. And when there was fighting, there was most certainly meat. "Looks like dinner is still on, you runts!" he roared, making his way towards the opening that led to the stairwell, slashing and shoving a path through those that were unfortunate enough to be standing in his way. "Get in order! No pushing and shoving, we have a system here!" he announced, pointing his jagged blade towards the sky. "I said stop!" His voice didn't need to be carried by the comms to have his message sent clearly through the horde.

"Festus! You and your gang have been serving me well lately; you have the honor of first blood!"

The ground shook as thousands of clawed feet charged into the opening, pushing, clawing and shoving their way through as the Alpha practically cut a swathe through them to make his own bloody path to the head of the charge.

Only one thing coursed through their collective minds at this point.

Meat.

* * *

><p>Shepard looked down the smoking barrel of his gun as the small group of vorcha that ran out of the stairwell fell in a bloody heap of shredded gore. Before he could say anything, a piercing cacophony of shrieks came from the opening, resonating from up above. "Well, that doesn't sound good..." He mused as the ceiling continued to shake, as if an earthquake wracked the station.<p>

Garrus scoffed. "Well that's six of them down." He observed dryly as he glanced overhead towards the ceiling. "Lively bunch, aren't they?"

"True, but we have superior position." Shepard replied. "They'll have to funnel through the stairwell first to get to us."

"Ever the optimist, eh?"

Shepard shrugged. "Somebody has to be when they hang around somebody as negative as you, Garrus." He said, causing Kasumi to snicker behind them.

"Please." Garrus dismissed, rolling his eyes at Kasumi. "I prefer the term realist." His voice took a serious tone. "There's less than a hundred meters between us and that opening. If these things get within melee range of us, we're done for, Shepard. Besides, blood looks unbecoming on my armor."

"Blood on your armor wouldn't be the first thing to attract discerning stares with a face like that." Shepard quipped, with Garrus giving him a wry grin in reply.

Aria just shook her head, rolling her eyes as the pair went on. "Again with the banter? Do these two ever take anything seriously?" she asked out loud to nobody in particular.

Kasumi grinned. "Not really, but these two saved the galaxy _twice_." She said. "You can't argue with results, no matter how questionable they may seem."

Aria sneered. "I wasn't asking _you_."

Kasumi raised an eyebrow at that, trying her hardest not to openly scowl. The other woman had been hostile to her thus far, and though she could imagine why, it was still uncalled for. "Tell me, what'd I do to piss you off so much?"

"It's a growing list. The more you talk, the more there is."

"Ooh, scary." Kasumi retorted.

"Scary? Child, you don't know the meaning of the word."

Shepard just rolled his eyes as the two women traded barbed insults and snide remarks. "Save it for the vorcha, ladies." he said out loud, trying to diffuse the situation between them, only to be ignored. "And for the record, I'm taking this very seriously, Aria." Aria and Kasumi must have really gotten off on the wrong foot, he thought. For all intents and purposes, it was Miranda and Jack all over again. He did not need this on top of everything else on his plate right now.

Garrus must have been thinking the same thing as an amused grin was plastered on his face, wisely hidden behind his assault rifle as he stared down its sights. The only thing that could get two women to stop glaring at one another was when they glared at an offending male. That was when Miranda sauntered over, a grim expression on her face.

"Shepard, much as I like the idea of getting into a good, hopeless fight as of late, we might want to detonate that stairwell and seal it off to give us some time to figure out our predicament." Miranda said.

"Negative, Miranda." Shepard replied. "Vorcha are straight forward. If they see a single opening, they'll pile right through it. But if we seal off the only opening, they'll start looking for other ways to get to us. They'll come in through the vents and the maintenance ducts, might even try cutting through the ceiling and fall right on top of us." He explained. "I'd rather they come in through one direction than have them swarming all over us through many."

Aria paused from glaring at Kasumi to add in. "That and we might risk detonating the failsafe explosives I have lined all across this level." She said, resuming her ministrations to the other woman, who seemed indignant that she would be ignored if only for a moment.

"I see." Miranda conceded succinctly, completely unaware of the feminine tension happening in the background that Shepard hoped wouldn't escalate past glaring. But Miranda Lawson wasn't the kind of woman to let something like conceding her point stop her from at least getting a few more hits in. "Be that as it may, and as reassuring it is to know that the very room is liable to blow up on us, its logistically impossible to outlast an assault of this scale, Shepard. And the even the vorcha will eventually figure out that they can overrun us through other points of entry given enough time. She insisted. "We need a way out."

"Already working on one." Shepard replied as he saw the other members of his squad plus Feron approach them. "Gather 'round people, I have a plan."

Miranda inhaled sharply. "Let's get to it, then."

There was no time to exchange pleasantries as the group huddled together. Kasumi joined in, with Aria laying out a holo schematic of her safehouse and the nearby surroundings. Shepard was pointing out locations as he explained the details of his plan. "Alright, there's a maintenance tunnel that leads out into the exterior of this level right here." He said, pointing to a spot on the map. All the while, the drumming of thousands of boots above them resonated ominously through the air, mixing with the shrieks of bloody murder. Not to mention that… thick scent of oily rancidness that hung in the air. If they couldn't hear the vorcha or feel the tremors of their movement, they damn well could smell them. It painted a very dire picture in his head, but Shepard ignored it all and pressed on. "A small team composed of Kasumi, Thane and Legion will make their way through this shaft and towards the exterior." He said, turning to look at each of them. "Your mission is simple; clearing out whatever is jamming the gates from opening."

Thane nodded sagely, clasping his hands behind his back. "And failing that?"

"You'll be our advanced recon; path finders." Shepard said. "Worst case scenario: we abandon the vehicles and make the rest of the way on foot."

Feron scratched his chin sagely, looking over the holo map. "I'll also send three of my men with you." He began. "Numbers could mean the difference to success, and you couldn't ask for better stalkers and saboteurs. Not outside of the Drell, anyway."

Thane nodded in appreciation, "My thanks."

"Um, why not just abandon the vehicles now, then?" Kasumi suggested. "And while we're at it, let's blow this place up behind us?"

Zaeed scoffed as he hefted his LMG. "Think about it, dove. Miles of open country between us and the station proper, you want to be caught on foot in the open with a horde of vorcha bearing down on you?" he said, managing not to sound like he was talking down on her. Just barely. "Besides, if the explosive yield of this level's failsafe is anything like the first one, we won't be slowing them down for long…"

Kasumi cleared her throat. "Still, you're going to be facing a literal tsunami of vorcha; you'll be overrun faster than we can clear a way."

Grunt scoffed. "Not necessarily. Vorcha are highly hierarchal, what's the point of overrunning us if there's not much left of us to go around afterwards?" he said, speaking from centuries of virtual experience. "They're going to come in in waves; they'll send grunts first so they can gauge our strength and wear us down. Then they'll send in the real heavy hitters to finish the job. If the grunts take us down before all of that, then the alphas will just bully the spoils from them."

Garrus' mandibles twitched thoughtfully. "So you're saying that this is actually doable? We can hold off an entire horde because they are coming at us piecemeal?"

"I'm saying it gives us a chance and a few more minutes for Kasumi and them to figure out how to open that gate." Grunt replied, indicating Kasumi, Thane and Legion. "Don't take vorcha lightly; a few at a time is one thing, but en masse they're voracious. Besides, before long it would be just like what Miranda said, while we're busy dealing with them up front, they'd have found a way to get to us from behind."

Kasumi nodded as she looked over the schematic, picking through pathways to traverse. "Noted…" She said, "Grunt, any more tips and tricks in that noggin of yours that would give us an edge?"

"Just remember: body shots will do you no good, it'll take way too much good ammo to put a vorcha down like that; go for the head, quick and dirty. Can't regenerate splattered brains. And if you're a crap shot, inferno rounds and fire are your best friends." Grunt continued. "Also, go for anybody barking out orders first. Any semblance of combat discipline among the rest will soon follow."

* * *

><p>With that, Shepard spent the rest of the meeting assigning firing lanes and organizing defenses. He issued his orders and the group broke off, getting ready to start on their assigned tasks.<p>

Kasumi along with Thane, Legion and the three Shadow Broker agents were walking off to the door that led to the service tunnels outside when Garrus caught up to her.

"Hey, wait up." He said simply as he fell into stride beside her. They both slowed down and allowed the others to go past ahead of them.

"My, my, Mr. Vakarian..." She said in a sing song voice. "You're not the clingy type, are you?" she said casually with a smile. "Are you here to insist on coming with me to protect me from the big, bad vorcha?"

Garrus scoffed. "Hardly." He said, handing her something. "Here…"

"Eh?" Kasumi took the hunting knife from Garrus, practically a short sword in her hands. "This is your knife…" She twirled it in hand, the blade feeling light and well balanced.

"Figured you would need this more than me, what with you diving into the deep end and all." He said, scratching his scar casually. They walked in silence for a bit after that, neither of them speaking, before speaking up simultaneously.

"Garrus, I-"

"Kasumi, I-"

"Umm…" They both managed to say simultaneously again, the silence falling over them once more.

Kasumi sighed as she put the blade away on her back, "I would prefer it if you didn't die today, Garrus."

"Of course." Garrus replied. "But, strangely I may add, the motivation to keep on living depends on you not dying out there, either." He said.

Kasumi smiled at him and picked up her pace, leaving Garrus behind to catch up with her group. When suddenly, she stopped in her tracks to turn around and face him again. "Dancing." She said.

"Eh?"

"I've decided that when this is all over, you will take me out dancing."

"Dancing." Garrus said flatly, before shaking his head and breaking out into a small smirk. "Alright, it's a date then."

* * *

><p>Shepard let out a sigh as he checked his rifle. For it to jam in this fight could mean the difference between life and death. And last time he checked, he very much enjoyed living.<p>

"How do you manage to do it?" Tali said from her perch on the turret atop the APC beside him, knocking him back into reality.

"Hmm? Manage what, Tali?" He replied, shifting the rifle from stand-by to assault mode, then back again.

"Be in the center of all… whatever this is." She said. "The Geth, the Reapers, Cerberus, and now an ancient Cult surrounding some other cosmic, eldritch horror out there in the galaxy. What are the odds of the same man being mired in the middle of it?"

"You tell me, you've been with me every step of the way." Shepard said, smiling.

"Yes, but I think you're the main character of this certain story." She said. "A galaxy spanning epic that would be told for generations to come. Of course the 'generations to come' part relies solely on you not mucking it up."

Shepard found himself laughing at that. It seemed like ages since he last laughed. "Which is why I brought you along; you're the only thing standing between me and mucking this up royally." He said. "And you're my girlfriend, giving you main character status by proxy."

"Oh please. I have enough presence to warrant my own spin-off without your hand-me-down fame." She retorted. "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, savior of the quarian race."

"I'd certainly love to read that story."

"Well that all depends on you getting us through your story then." She said, and by the tone of her voice, Shepard could tell she was smiling. "Of course, with me here, how could you lose?"

"Haven't the foggiest idea." Shepard said donning his skull-faced helmet. As if on cue, the chilling sound of a thousand vorcha shrieking resonated through the air. "Ready, savior of the quarian race?"

Tali smirked as she manned the heavy machine gun. "Always, savior of the known galaxy."


End file.
